Loose Canon
by kon-KON
Summary: Love and hate are two sides of a coin. Hate fills every gap where he is concerned. Will her feelings change for better or for worse? Kagura x Sesshoumaru. Rated for language and content.
1. The Invitation Letter

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any other anime/manga series.**

**Hi everyone; this is my newest story. Hope you all like it. Please Review to tell your opinions. ^^**

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**LOOSE CANON**

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I never liked Shakespeare, especially his _Romeo and Juliet_; I always thought it was a load of crap. I mean, how can someone fall in love with a person by just laying his/her eyes on that certain someone?

It was impossible.

But all came true when my boss, the owner of the city's largest art gallery, sent me to this rich bastard's house to deliver an invitation in person. That moment I saw him, I believed in Shakespeare and his work, but the only problem was that it wasn't love at first sight for me.

It was actually _hate_ at first sight.

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**Chapter 1**

**The Invitation Letter**

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"Who?" Kagura Kamiya asked her boss, who owned the city's largest art gallery. She worked under her. Most of time people thought of her as the owner since she basically did everything. The placement of the art pieces, organizing exhibits and everything else that an owner should do. Her boss was only there to confirm things and events.

Today she was here with some "special news" as she recalled when she called Kagura on her cell phone earlier that day.

"Sesshoumaru Tanaka," her boss Kaguya Ito replied. "You know, the most powerful guy in the city, who owns the Tanaka Corporation, which basically is the city itself," she looked at Kagura expecting something from her, when she didn't get anything she sighed. "For goodness sake Kagura, read the newspaper will you."

"I do read newspapers," Kagura said pushing up her thin rimmed glasses. "It's just my interest lays in art, not business or politics. I only read the Arts section," she explained.

Her boss sighed again, "Anyways, as I was saying. He has interest in art too, bought about three paintings at last year's big exhibition. Those painting were quite expensive," she took a drag of her cigarette.

"How come _I_ don't remember this?" Kagura asked.

"Because _you_ left two hours before the exhibition," Kaguya reminded her. Kagura nodded, she remembered now. It was an emergency, her sister Yura had gotten into an accident and Kagura had to rush all the way to the neighbour city's hospital. It wasn't a big accident, nor dangerous [Yura was barely hurt, just a scratch on her head and back pain] but Kagura still ended up spending a whole week with her twin sister, who apart from their hair and eye colour, barely looked like Kagura. People could tell they were sisters but guessing they were twins was about ten percent out of a hundred.

Kaguya took another drag of the cigarette, "So, this guy is number one on our guest list for invitations, so I want _you_ to head over to his house and personally give him the invitation," Kaguya finished up.

"And why not send one of the gallery's couriers?" Kagura asked.

"Because I want him to feel welcomed. See, last time he just showed up with a woman who was sent an invitation. I had no idea that man had an interest in art," Kaguya said as she crushed her almost gone cigarette in the astray and stood to leave. Smoking wasn't allowed in the gallery but since she was the owner, she did as she wished even when this was Kagura's office. There was always an ashtray in here for her boss.

"And how is sending me to him any different than a courier going instead?" Kagura asked as she got up from her chair and followed Kaguya out. "He's just gonna think that I'm the courier. That is, if I get to meet him in person. You said yourself that he's rich, what's the chance that he'll come and greet me _personally_?"

Kaguya walked around the gallery as she said, "Hm, I do believe you're right Kagura, as always. But I'm afraid you'll still have to go. The exhibition is in three days, and all the couriers are out giving invitations. I didn't give them Tanaka's since I was set on you going personally," she explained.

Kagura took in her explanation. Her boss was right; she would have to go either way. "Okay, I'll go," she said finally.

"Of course," Kaguya smiled one of her I'm-the-boss-and-you're-not smiles. "The gallery looks great. The placement of the art works are supurb as well," she complimented Kagura. "What's the theme this time?"

"Well last year we went by the medium of the pieces, the watercolour, photography, oil paint, acrylic and sculptures etc..." Kagura started. "This year we're going by the subject matter of the art piece." Kagura said. "See, on the fourth floor we have the portraits, on the third we have nature. Second has the urban related theme and finally the floor level has the abstract subject matter," she finished off as she pointed at few of the pieces on the floor they were on.

"Marvellous!" Kaguya said excitedly. "So where you planning to put the food?" She asked Kagura.

"Well that depends, I was thinking of either putting some on each floor, or one huge table on one floor. I haven't decided which one yet. But I like the idea of putting one on each floor, that way it's easier for everyone and not like the washroom system. We only have them on the first and third floor," she said.

"Well, do what you think works better, I can't wait to see the results," Kaguya said. "I have an appointment at three o'clock so I'm off now. I put the invitation on your desk, be sure to go before it's too late," Kaguya instructed as she slipped on her shades.

"Of course," Kagura said as she watched her boss exit the gallery.

----

Kagura arrived at the city's biggest house-could be called mansion- and stared at it in awe. So this was where the city's most famous man lived. Someone honked behind her, she looked in the review mirror and realized there was a line of expensive cars behind her, waiting to move forward. Kagura quickly moved her car out of the way and found a parking spot on the road with thirty different cars. It seemed as if this was a special night at the mansion.

_Probably a party or something_, Kagura thought. _Rich people have nothing else to do._

She cut out the engine and checked herself in her mirror, her ruby red eyes covered with thin black rimmed glasses-from reading too many novels in the dark during high school instead of studying- hiding the true size of her eyes. Her waist length wavy hair was pulled back in a tight bun with only her front bangs released.

She had starting wearing glasses in her senior year of high school. When everyone else studied, she read novels in the dark so her mother wouldn't know she was up all night reading romance novels instead of studying. She never needed to study too much, she wasn't aiming for 90s and paying attention in the class got her straight late 70s average. So all was good to her.

She grabbed her purse and the invitation letter from the passenger seat and exited the car. She closed the car door and straightened out her cobolt black pencil skirt. After taking a deep breath, she walked toward the entrance of the mansion. She passed the mansion's gates and stood in awe before the mansion's main entrance door. A mural matching Raphael's _St. George and the Dragon _was right above the doorway. She wondered which artist painted the mural that looked exactly like the original Renaissance painting.

Kagura swallowed and entered the mansion, and stood in the hallway not knowing where to go. The house was full of beautiful, rich people. Every woman was tall and beautiful that gave away the aura of a model or actoress, all in expensive designer clothing. Unlike her five-foot-three-inches, adding the three more inches from her black pumps, she was still too short for their almost six feet tall figures. Not to mention _out of place _aura that she gave away.

"Excuse me Miss," someone from behind her spoke. Kagura turned around and saw an elderly man around late fifties or early sixties dressed in formal suit, he gave away the aura of "butler". "May I be of any assistance to you?" The man asked.

"Oh yes, I'm from The Belle Gallery. I have a formal invitation for Mr. Tanaka for the upcoming exhibition," Kagura stated.

"Oh, come with me, I'm sure Master Tanaka will be glad to meet you. He has a taste for art," the bulter explained as he led the way.

"Yes, so I've noticed. He has quite amazing pieces," Kagura said observing every art piece she saw.

"I agree with you there," he smiled. "I'm Suzuki, the head of staff," he stopped and offered Kagura a handshake.

"Kagura Kamiya," she shook his hand and smiled. "Pleasure."

Suzuki nodded and led her to a room which looked like the main room for the guests. Whatever it was called, she wasn't sure. _Well, I don't own a mansion, so how would I know what each room is called. _She thought.

"Master Tanaka will be here shortly," he said and left.

_Will be here shortly? How would I even recognize him, I never met or saw the man before. _She looked around the huge room which was full of the same people that gave away the aura of I'm-rich-and-untouchable. She seemed to be catching everyone's eyes. Well that didn't shock her. She looked out of the place...and class. Of course she would be earning everyone's attention.

Kagura moved to a corner admiring the art pieces on the walls and ignoring everyone else. This man really did have the most amazing collection. She didn't know how long she walked from wall to wall admiring the work of art but when she turned around, she noticed that she was in centre of attention. She didn't understand at first but then saw a tall man walking toward her with two women at each side.

She knew it was him and she knew she hated him as long as she laid her eyes on him. Sesshoumaru Tanaka. Tall, handsome, silver hair, golden eyes. Expensive black Armani suit with a gold tie.

_Yup, _she hated him right there. He seemed too confident, too rich, too proud and that was not why hated him. It was the look he had on his face. The I'm-better-than-everyone look mixed with You-can-never-match-up-to-me look. Even the two women beside him were not touching him. It was as if he gave them the permission if they could touch him or not

_So this is what hate at first sight feels like,_ Kagura thought as Sesshoumaru Tanaka stopped in front of her.

"Sesshoumaru darling, why are we stopping here in front of a librarian?" The woman with black hair and grey eyes to his right asked.

_Librarian? That Bitch! _

But she stayed quiet because it was a business deal and they were rich. Rich people had nothing else but to insult others. She insured herself.

"Is she a new maid?" The blonde one on his left asked. "She sure is playing around like a guest if she is."

Kagura was about to say something when The Sesshoumaru Tanaka spoke himself.

"Ladies please," his deep voice sounded, cold as an ice berg. "I didn't realize I had a female in my staff."

"You're telling us she's your _guest_?" The right one butted in again.

"_That_ is your guest?" This one was from the left.

"Ladies, I do know quality when I see it. I do have standards, and this is a line even I will not cross," he stated coldly.

_That Bastard! _

If Kagura hated him before, she _loathed _him _than_ _anyone_ _or_ _anything!_

Her anger flared up as if oil added to a fire, and before she could stop herself, she slapped him so hard across the face that her hand hurt the minute it touched his hard jaw.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and watched. The room that was roaring of music and voices was now as quiet as a dark alley and carried an intense atmosphere.

Kagura was too angry for words, too angry for anything that before anyone could say or do anything, she walked out of the room as quickly as she could without breaking into a run. She was ten feet away from the front door when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her back until she stopped half a foot away from the man who had insulted her in front of his guests.

He stared at her through narrowed cold eyes.

"Apologize. You have no right to barge into my home and slap me in front of my guests." He stated coldly. "Apologize," he ordered.

"Look, I don't care if you're some rich bastard who controls the city or whatever, but a person who has killed millions of people would know to respect a woman," she started. "Apologize?" She let out a bitter laugh. "Then what about me? Do you have the right to insult me in front of your guest? Do you have the right to insult me just because I'm not as beautiful, or tall and any other woman in that room? Do you have the right to insult me just because I don't have fake breasts and am not wearing designer clothing? Do you have the right to insult me just because I decided to do something meaningful with my life that doesn't include showing off my body to others?"

She took a breath.

"How dare you insult me in front of all those people when I look out of the place! How dare you insult me when you don't even know me! How dare you insult me when you don't even know the reason I'm in your house! How dare you insult me when you don't even _know my name_! How _dare you_! So don't you come in front of me and demand an apology when the one who's been humiliated is me!" By the time she was done. She was panting like she ran a marathon.

She calmed herself down, "Now please let go of my hand," she said to the guy who was left speechless. Then she just stood there, staring at him, waiting for him to let go of her hand. She really had no clue how long she stood there when she started to feel his grip loosen up and let her wrist go. She took out the invitation from her purse and held it out to him.

He looked from her face to the letter she held out and then slowly took it. Without saying anything else, she left the house and walked straight to her car. She threw her purse in the passenger seat, started the car and raced away from the mansion as fast as she could.

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**Well, this was the first chapter, I hope you guys liked it.**

**Review ^^**

**kon-KON**


	2. The Exhibition

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.**

**Hi everyone, as promised here's the newest chapter. Please review and enjoy. And thanks to my dear friend Inu-midoriko for editing ;)**

**Thank you for everyone who reviewed.^^**

**----**

**Loose Canon**

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Sesshoumaru Tanaka had officially become the number one on my hate list. The type of hate I felt for him was different than the '_normal'_ hate, where in time it starts to dissolve. I knew that this wouldn't happen with Sesshoumaru Tanaka.

The more I thought of him, the more provoked I became to cut that man's ego in half or to do something so malicious to him his pride would be nonexistent.

But most importantly, I wanted to stay away from him. After that night, I never wanted to see his face again.

But of course, knowing my luck that didn't happen because that night, without knowing it, I started a war with the most powerful man in the city.

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**Chapter 2**

**The Exhibition**

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Kagura reached her traditional one story bungalow with painted white trim that contrasted the black surface of the house, and parked her car in the driveway. All the anger and rage she felt suddenly disappeared as soon as she stepped inside her house. That's what her house did to her; always made her forget the long tired day and sometimes the horrible people she dealt with on the job.

It was probably because she loved this house dearly. She had worked hard to get where she was. After graduating from college with a degree in Art History, she started working at the gallery. She was still paying for the house but it would be hers in a few years.

_Just a few more years._

She closed her front door and bent over to pick up the mail left under her door then walked straight to the kitchen and dropped it onto the counter. Then she walked to her bedroom and dropped her purse and her keys on the dresser.

Today wasn't a good day; sure she wasn't furious like she was half an hour ago but she still felt her anger built up when the events of the day flashed back. No, she wouldn't think about it, she was not going to spend the rest of the night fuming over a man who didn't even deserve her anger.

She stripped off her clothes and walked to the bathroom for a shower. She refused to get angry over a man like him. She was pretty sure she was going to have to see him again. After all, he did receive the invitation. But the next time, she wouldn't waste her precious emotions on a man like him.

She sighed.

_Tomorrow will be a better day._

_Hopefully._

----

Kagura parked her car into her spot at the gallery's private employees' parking the next morning and walked toward the gallery. She was a little early today, probably the only one except for the gallery's guard, Goro. She reached the entrance door and was greeted by Goro himself.

"'Mornin' Miss Kamiya. You're rather early this morning," Goro gave her a sweet smile in his usual navy blue suit that made him look even bigger than his actual six foot tall form. He had a muscular body and skinhead look that made him look like an ex-con but he was a sweet guy. "Good morning Goro," Kagura smiled back. "I woke up early."

"What were you doing?" Goro winked, probably thinking about something dirty again.

"Oh, get your head out of the gutter will you?" Kagura smiled. "You and your dirty mind."

"Hey, I'm allowed think what I want okay?" he laughed. "By the way, the security group came about fifteen minutes ago."

"Hmm, they're early," Kagura commented.

"Yup, said they wanted to double check everything was working and such. 'Want your opinion on things though, might wanna go see 'em," Goro said.

"I'll do that," Kagura said. "Thanks Goro, see you later," Goro nodded and Kagura went inside the gallery to her office. She dropped off her purse and some files and went to the security room at the corner of the first floor.

"'Morning boys," Kagura said as she entered the security room. Bankotsu, Jakotsu, Renkostu and Suikotsu were the gallery's four experienced security guards who enjoyed kicking people's ass more than sitting in this room staring at a bunch of screens and making fun of people.

"Yo Kamiya," Bankotsu greeted. He had black eyes and black shoulder length hair which he usually wore in a long braid. He was head of the security department.

"Early today, eh?" This came from Suikotsu, who stood up and handed her a paper cup. "Here, got you your favourite Vanilla Bean Latte," he smiled. "Had a feeling you were coming early," he winked at her. He was a lady charmer with his ruffled, shoulder length black hair and pretty brown eyes.

"Thank you Sui," Kagura said, smelling the delicious aroma and appreciating it as she opened the lid. She took a sip, tasting the familiar flavour. "So what's up?"

"Here take a look at this," Jakotsu said. "The third monitor on the left," he pointed. Kagura followed his cue and looked at the monitor and found herself looking at the third floor of the gallery from the surveillance camera. She watched it do its duty by taking its rounds; from the right to left and then back.

"Did you see that?" Jakotsu asked straighting his shirt. He dressed too well for a man. His short black hair was combed and gelled back perfectly for 'on the clock' hours. Any other time his hair was gel free and ruffled just as much as Suikotsu's. Jakotsu also had black eyes. They were usually friendly, especially towards men but when a woman got in his way; his friendly dark eyes became vicious vipers. Of the four men, he was the most outgoing, probably because he was gay.

"See what?" Kagura asked confused. She hadn't seen anything.

"There's a blind spot," Renkotsu spoke for the first time. He sometimes scared Kagura for reasons that were unknown even to her. He had dangerous brown eyes that spoke volumes when he was angry. His head was completely shaved to give off the 'skinhead' look. It intimidated theives so she wasn't complaining but even so, he gave the aura of 'I-will-kill-you-if-you-so-much-as-look-at-me-the-wrong-way'. Kagura thought it was the eyes that were the scariest of his whole being; probably because his irises were too small and they always held strong negative emotions. Rarely had she ever seen him lighten up**,**"On the left corner."

"Blind spot?" She asked again.

"When the surveillance camera turns from right to left," Renkotsu continued. "It's doesn't completely show the left corner."

Kagura watched the monitor again. He was right. The monitor showed the right corner wall, the front view of the gallery, then turned left, and back to right; without every showing the left camera.

"Didn't the surveillance team come to install the new camera yesterday?" Kagura asked.

"Yes they did, but we found this error last night. We would've called you but it was late," Suikotsu explained and Kagura nodded in understanding. Last night she was in no mood to deal with anything work related.

Soon after, Ayame barged into the room, "Morning! Wow, so many people are early today. What's going on?" she asked.

"We have a blind spot," Bankotsu replied, "So what you want us to do?" he turned to Kagura.

"Well first of all," Kagura started with Bankotsu. "Call the team again, and get them to fix it. Watch closely this time so we don't have to deal with this again. And while you're on it, recheck each and every one of the surveillance cameras. Make sure nothing is wrong. We all know these art pieces are worth more than our jobs. We don't want to deal with an angry artist just because we couldn't spot someone easily cheating and stealing a piece," everyone nodded. "Who's taking names down this time at the night of the exhibition?" Kagura asked Ayame, who as usual, was wearing the brightest colour she ever saw anyone wear, which for some reason went well on her, probably since she was a green-eyed redhead. Kagura wasn't sure. Today she was wearing a bright red and blue suit, but she didn't wear much make up which was probably good because she would have looked like a multicoloured popsicle if she had.

"Well, I'm gonna start then switch with Abi halfway," Ayame said and Kagura nodded in approval. Abi was a pretty woman with black hair and rust coloured eyeswho usually did the same work as Ayame.

"And two of us are going to be out patrolling just in case. I mean, blind spots don't just accidentally happen," Jakotsu said.

"Good idea, make sure to dress normally. We don't want to alert the guests," the four men nodded. "Well, for now I'm going to go do other stuff. I'll come by sometime today to see the progress of things. Meanwhile, Ayame, come with me," Kagura and Ayame exited the room and walked to her office.

"The placement of the pieces looks great, but there are two paintings on the fourth floor which don't seem right. Go by the colouring okay? It's much easier. Following the colour wheel would be better," Kagura told her.

"Sure, I'll check that first thing," Ayame said. "Anything else?"

"Yes actually," Kagura said remembering the setting of the food. "We're going to go by the food on each floor. I was reviewing the pieces that will be here and apparently there are about eleven sculptures we'll have this year, so don't put them in the centre like we decided. Put them against the walls instead. We'll put the food in the centre of all floors. Who's in charge of the food again?" Kagura asked.

"Kikyo is," Ayame replied.

"Okay that will do. Thank you, Ayame," Kagura said. Ayame nodded and went to do her business. Kagura picked up the phone and called the security room. "Ren, when you see Kikyo coming, tell her I want to see her. Thanks."

The next day went blissfully. The security problems were solved, and all the pieces had arrived and were in their places correctly. Everything was ready, except the food which was going to arrive an hour before the opening.

----

_The Night of the Exhibition_

Everything was perfect. The food had arrived ten minutes ago and was set in the correct places. All the pieces were in order and also in the correct places. The placement seemed perfect. The security problems were solved and everything was ready.

Kagura looked at herself in the mirror in her office. She was wearing a formal black knee length dress with a V neck and a bigger V in the back that showed half of her back with a small silver brooch just under the V in the front of the dress. Her bangs were pinned back tonight and her naturally wavy waist length hair was down, spilling over her shoulders and back.

"You know, every year you make me wanna be a straight man," Jakotsu joked from door. Kagura laughed.

"And every year, I wish you weren't gay," Kagura continued their little joke. "How do I look?" Kagura twirled for him.

"Looking good," Jakotsu commented. "Why don't you lose the glasses?"

"Because I need them to see," Kagura said.

"Ever heard of contacts?" Jakotsu joked.

"Yes actually," Kagura said. "And they hurt. It's like wearing six inch high heels and after half an hour the feet start to hurt."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know anything about that," he confessed.

"Really? You never once tried them?" Kagura said shocked. "Okay, then imagine yourself wearing a tight leather under-"

"Point made, no need to continue it," Jakotsu interrupted her and turned to leave. Kagura laughed and followed him out, her black four inched heeled sandals clicking on the wooden polished floor.

"So, everything ready?" Kagura asked.

"Yup, Ayame and Abi set up the podium in the lobby," Jakotsu said. "Everything is good." They both walked to the lobby and saw the whole staff-Ayame, Abi, Kikyo, Goro and the security group checking everything. The Boys were dress formally tonight too.

"Everyone gather around," Kagura called and watched everyone come together. "Finally tonight is the night we've been working hard for, so let's do this right. Ayame and Abi?" Kagura looked at them.

"Only the people who were sent the invitation will enter tonight," Ayame and Abi responded together quickly. Tonight Ayame was wearning a tight blue dress-she seemed to love that colour- and Abi wore a very pale red -almost pink.

"Boys?" Kagura looked at the Security group.

"Patrol every floor," Jakotsu said.

"Goro?" She looked at the guard who was in his usual navy blue uniform.

"Anyone making a scene in the lobby gets thrown out," he confirmed.

"Good, Kikyo, where are the waiters?" Kagura asked Kikyo who was wearing a white backless dress. It was tight around the chest area then flowed out nicely around the waist and went down to about her knees with red rose designs adorning the sides of the white garment. Anyone would agree she was wearing a summer dress. "The gallery opens in ten minutes."

"They're in the back room getting the wine ready. We didn't want to serve warm wine, so they're taking them out this instant to serve," she replied in her normal semi-monotone voice.

"I'm here!" Kaguya barged into the lobby.

Kagura rolled her eyes and put her hands together, "Alright staff, let's do this."

----

People started showing up a few minutes after the gallery opened. They were to wait in the lobby until either Ayame or Abi checked them off from the list in the laptop that sat on the glass podium set in the lobby. It was easier to use a laptop instead of ten different pages full of names attached to a clipboard.

"Looks great," Kaguya said as she came to stand beside Kagura. She was wearing a dark violet dress that almost matched her eyes. "Impressive as always, the colouring is great."

"We went by the colour wheel," Kagura turned to look at her boss/closest friend. "I wonder how many pieces will be sold today."

"Well, it is the rich people coming," Kaguya winked. "Even if they don't care about art or have any concept of the value of it, they'll still buy it. Maybe it's a rich trait or something."

"You're rich, you should know," Kagura joked.

"I'm not rich. I'm the lowest level of the Rich Category," Kaguya gave her usual answer to the joke. "Oh, the invitation was delivered alright?" she asked, reminding Kagura of the night and the person she'd tried hard not to think about to avoid her anger.

"Hmm," Kagura nodded not knowing what else to say. Kaguya eyed her carefully.

"Something happened?" she asked worriedly. "You do the whole 'hmm' thing when you're trying to avoid a subject."

"I do?" Kagura asked. "Well it's nothing worth talking about anyways."

"Tell me," Kaguya pushed.

"The guy's a bastard," Kagura sulked, keeping the story short.

"Sesshoumaru Tanaka?"

"Hmm," Kagura nodded again, the mention of his name triggered a new type of anger through her. "I was insulted by his guests since I looked out of place, and he did nothing but add to their input."

Kaguya looked at her, her violet eyes wide and jaw dropped. "That bastard," she hissed. "Do you want me to sue him?"

"As much as I would like that, don't." Kagura smiled. "So, you wanna start the talking this year?"

Kaguya gave her the 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "I did it last year," she pouted.

"You're the owner," Kagura spoke.

"So?" Kaguya retorted. "That doesn't mean anything; by the way I need to talk to you about the gallery. It's really important so when you're free, let me know."

"Sure," Kagura claimed and looked back around the first floor, only to regret ever looking there. "The devil's here," she muttered which made Kaguya follow her gaze to where Kagura was looking.

Sesshoumaru Tananka.

He was here. He actually came.

"Let's go," Kaguya stated, dragging her along.

"What? Where?" Kagura questioned wondering what this woman was up to.

"To see the bastard," Kaguya declared with a bright smile.

She was crazy.

"Kaguya!" Kagura stopped and hissed at her.

"Just stay out of his sight but stay close," Kaguya said dragging her along again.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Kagura whispered when they were about six feet away from him.

"Nothing at all," Kaguya smiled whispering. "Stay out of sight," she said and walked to the bastard.

Kagura stayed about three feet behind them, close enough to listen to their conversation and far enough behind so he wouldn't see her.

"So glad you could make it Mr. Tanaka," Kagura heard Kaguya start the conversation as she went to stand beside the guy. "I wasn't sure you'd come," she smiled up at him.

"I was sent an invitation," Sesshoumaru Tanaka stated callously.

_Yeah, and you insulted the person who delivered it you._ Kagura thought.

"Yes, but that doesn't always bring people," she proclaimed.

"Hard to believe when it is relevant to this gallery," Sesshoumaru said blankly and Kaguya laughed.

_You got that right, but did you have to show up and ruin my day?_

"Oh you're just saying that," she smiled. "So what do you think? Impressive isn't it?" She turned to stare around the floor. "Kagura did all the work, as usual," she said.

_Damnit woman, why are you bringing me up?_

"She's my right hand woman and a very good friend. I don't know if you met her or not, but she delivered the invitation to your house," she finished.

_Kaguya!_

Kagura waited. How was this man going to reply to that? Suddenly an idea flew in her head. What if she refused to admit she met him? How would the great Sesshoumaru Tanaka feel about that? Surely he wouldn't forget a woman that slapped him. He would recognize her anywhere, if she predicted him right.

So before he could say anything, she walked up and spoke for him, "Oh we didn't have the chance to meet Kaguya," Sesshoumaru Tanaka turned to look at her, and Kagura thought that she saw his eyes narrow a bit for a second. "Mr. Tanaka wasn't at home at that moment," she smiled up at him.

_My god, it's hard to smile at the man you come to hate so much._

She offered her hand for a hand shake, "Kagura Kamiya, nice to meet you," she smiled again.

_What are you going to do now, Tanaka? _Kagura looked at him, wicked mischief shining in the back of her eyes.

----

**Well, that's it for this week.**

**Review^^**

**kon-KON**


	3. The Climax

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.**

**Here is the newest chapter readers. Again the thanx to my editor Jen ^^.**

**And thank you all people who reviewed. I was extremely happy to receive them. Please review this time to ^^. I'm greedy for them. Enjoy.**

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**Loose Canon**

**----**

When that night had started, I hadn't known that it would be the climax in the plot of my life. Sure, the rising action was me growing up in all those twenty-eight years of my life but that night of the exhibition was definitely the highest peak in my life.

It didn't occur me that night that it was coming. No, I hadn't the slightest clue nor received the slightest warning. It seemed unfair since usually in a plot there's "foreshadowing" also known as 'warning' or 'hint' for what is about to happen in future.

I didn't get any of that. Instead, what I got was a night that changed my whole life.

Even in that night I knew that nothing was going to be the same anymore.

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**Chapter 3**

**The Climax **

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Kagura stared at him, challenging him, waiting for him to do or say something. Most importantly, she waited patiently to see what he would say. Would he give into the game that she started? Or would he start his own new one? The one that would include the night she delivered the invitation, the slap and her heated lecture.

She observed him carefully. Watched his eyes slowly narrow and then turn back to their normal size. She was surprised; the man actually knew well to hide his emotions. The only thing Kagura noticed that did change was his eyes. Not the emotions in the eyes, no, they carried the usual cold stare that he carried all the time. At least all the times she saw him anyways. It was the size, his eyes would narrow. Just like the time she slapped him, the only thing that had changed was his eyes, but that night she was too angry to notice that.

Twice tonight he'd narrowed his eyes, but softly. One wouldn't notice it unless paying close attention to him like she was now. She watched his eyes turn back to their usual size.

He slowly extended his arm and shook her hand. She stared at his hand. His grip was firm; his large and strong hand contrasted her small and pale one. Where her hand was slimmer and softer, his was harder and slightly darker.

"You already know who I am," he stated coldly. She met his eyes once more.

"Do I?" she challenged him again and was about to withdraw her hand from the handshake when she felt his grip tighten. Tight enough to have her struggling to retreat her hand but not tight enough to hurt her. She looked from his eyes, to where their hands met, to his eyes again and then their joined hands once more. She tried to pull her hand, only to have him tighten his grip even more.

She met his eyes again. They gave away _nothing. _They carried the usual coldness and stared back at her with the same blankness.

_Was he angry? _

Him tightening the grip gave off that vibe but Kagura wasn't sure. She didn't know the guy; she didn't know anything about him.

"I would really appreciate it if you let go of my hand now," she spoke up, daring him to protest. "I don't know about you, but I don't plan to stand here all night like this."

Once again, Sesshoumaru Tanaka's eyes softly narrowed. He let go of her hand and put his hand back into his pressed pants' pocket. Kagura looked around the gallery and was shocked. The whole floor was now full of people. Last time she looked around, it was half empty.

_Whoa, how long did this conversation last? _

And where was Kaguya? She seemed to have disappeared somewhere.

_She is so dead!_

"Excuse me," Kagura excused herself away from Sesshoumaru Tanaka and went to find Kaguya, who was standing in a far corner, talking to Jakotsu. Kagura grabbed her arm, "Kaguya, how could you just leave me there with that man?" she hissed.

"Well, you guys started your own war. The atmosphere was so tense, I couldn't stand it," Kaguya complained. "What was I to do?" she sulked.

"Who?" Jakotsu asked Kaguya, his interest piquing at the name.

"Sesshoumaru Tanaka," she answered. "He's standing over there, behind the food table. The one with silver hair," she pointed her chin toward his direction.

"Oh my God!" Jakotsu squealed. "Yummy! That's the guy she hates?" he asked Kaguya and his eyes widened when she nodded. "Are you crazy? Why would you hate someone like him?" he questioned Kagura.

Kagura glared at Kaguya, "Nothing ever stays in your stomach does it?" Kaguya smiled sweetly.

"Oh come on, he was going to find out sooner or later," she said sweetly. "I mean, it is Jak."

Kagura sighed. "Go do the speech," she ordered.

"But you said you would do it," Kaguya whimpered. Kagura could literary feel smoke coming out of ears. Her temper was snapping and soon there wouldn't be any restraint left. "Oh and Kagura, just some small advice, you might wanna drink something cold. You look as if you're ready to burst," Kaguya said and Jakotsu noddedm silently agreeing that Kagura needed to cool down.

_And whose fault is that?_

Well, technically it wasn't _all_ Kaguya's fault; it was the rich bastard who was standing across the gallery. Just the mention of his name made her furious. She was shocked she hadn't exploded on him again when he wouldn't let go of her hand. If she were honest to herself, Kaguya had nothing to do with her being angry. It was Sesshoumaru Tanaka and seeing him again, not to mention also _talking _to him, made her angry as hell.

Kagura calmed herself down and walked to the wall that had a one-step-podium with a mike. She stepped on the podium, which made her one foot higher than rest on the people in the room.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," she announced looking down and scanning the room. She saw Sesshoumaru Tanaka turn and look straight at her. Their eyes met for a few seconds before Kagura turned her attention to the rest of the individuals. "I'm Kagura Kamiya, at your service. First of all, I would like to thank you all for coming tonight," she announced when everyone gave their undivided attention to her. "As you all know, tonight is the biggest exhibition of the year 2009, so before the buying starts; I would like to announce the theme of this year's exhibition."

"This year we are going by 'subject matter'. As you can see, the current floor we are on has the subject matter of 'Abstract' drawings," she pointed her hand to one of the piece on her right. "The second floor contains an 'Urban' theme, the third has 'Nature' and finally the fourth holds 'Portraits'." she took a breath. "For safety purposes, I would like all of you to please stay a foot away from all of the art pieces. Food is prepared on each of the floors, so help yourself. And please remember that it is first come first serve for the pieces," the last sentences got a few laughs from some people. "Have a great night," she smiled and got off the podium and walked back to were now only Kaguya was standing. Jakotsu had probably left to do his patrol since they now had access to the other floors.

"Nicely done," Kaguya smiled at her when Kagura stopped in front of her.

"You should be making these speeches, not me," Kagura reminded her.

Kaguya nodded. "I should be, but I'm not since I don't know anything about the themes, etectra," she commented and then grinned.

"You would if you spent more time at the gallery, instead of spending them at beauty parlours or shopping," she glared at her friend/boss.

Kaguya laughed, obviously not taking her seriously. "By the way, I have to leave early tonight. Got a call from my aunt while you were with Mr. Tall, Handsome and Rude there," she pointed with a grin to where Sesshoumaru once stood. "My grandmother is in the hospital," her grin vanished. "So, I'll be away for a few days."

Kagura nodded. "I'll handle things here. Go," Kaguya hesitated. "Just go, It's not that dark out yet, you'll be driving for an hour, so go before it's too dark out."

Kaguya nodded and hurried out of the gallery. Her grandmother lived in the neighbour city; it took about forty-five minutes to an hour to get there.

_Well Self, it's just us now._

Kagura thought as she watched her friend leave.

----

The rest of the night was enormous, she thought as she lay down in her bed a little past midnight. It was a long night but thankfully it went by smoothly. Of course she was _tired _but at least a lot of the pieces were sold. Almost all the pieces in the gallery had the tag SOLD posted on them. The rest would probably be sold in the next exhibition that was in another month or so. It was the monthly exhibition, they had one every month. It wasn't as big as the annual exhibition, like the one tonight, but a much smaller one. The monthly exhibition usually filled two floors which were usually taken place on the third and the second floor. The first floor was only occupied with art pieces in the annual exhibition.

Now, the next three to four weeks at work would involve delivering those pieces and doing all the paper work that would include things such as receipts etc... Kagura sighed. Just thinking about it was making her tired. Of course the work would be shared between all her co-workers but it still seemed like so much.

Kagura drifted off to sleep in those thoughts.

----

A dark figure stood in front of the bungalow where Kagura Kamiya lived. _People could be real shitty sometimes_, he decided as he turned around to walk back to his car which he had parked not so far from the bungalow. _Rich people especially. Pay so much to ruin someone else's life_. He felt bad as he walked but it was his job and he had to do it.

He phone vibrated in his jean pocket.

"_Is it done?"_ a female voice on the other side of the line asked as soon as he picked up.

"Yup," he said. "It will start soon."

----

A sound woke Kagura from her sleep. She sat up and rubbed her eyes looking over to her left to see the time on the digital clock that sat on the side table. It was blurry. She leaned closer until the blurry digits became clear. It was 2:13 AM. She had only gotten an hour worth of sleep before something woke her up.

_What the hell woke me up?_

Then there was it again; some kind of sound she didn't recognize. She grabbed her glasses from the side table and stood up, putting them on. Her bedroom was dark, the only light coming in was from the light that snuck in from the creaks of her blinds. It was clear so she walked out to the hallway only to hear nothing but silence. She walked to the bathroom; she didn't bother with the light since the streak of moon light was coming in from the little window beside the sink, nothing there. It was as spotless as she left it before going to bed. Nothing there to see.

Then she walked to her office, which was also empty and nothing seemed out of the place.

_What am I looking for? _Kagura thought as she walked to the living room. Her house was ridiculously warm for a normal summer night. Her house never got this warm, it was impossible since she had the AC on. What was going on?

_Maybe the stove is on..._

She headed toward the kitchen when she bumped something hard; the sudden movement made her fall on the floor on her behind. She looked at what she bumped into and since her eyes were already used to the darkness, she noticed that she didn't bumped into something but rather _someone._

_Someone is in my house! A thief?_

_Or a killer..._

She screamed.

"You can stop now; the messege is undoubtedly delivered," her attacker spoke.

_Wait._

She knew this voice; it was hard and deep, cold.

"What the hell are _you_ doing in _my _house?!" Kagura demanded when she realized who was standing in her living room, blocking the way to the kitchen. She stood up slowly and went toward the light switch that was just to the left to where the man was standing. She turned the lights on, suddenly blinking from the bright light. When her eyes got used to the light she looked up at the man who was standing in her house. Sesshoumaru Tanaka of all people.

"Is this a hobby of yours?" she almost yelled. "To show up at a woman's house passed midnight? A woman you only met twice for a brief moment and decide to scare the hell out of her? I thought you were a thief or a killer," she took a breath. She tried to lower her anger but failed. "What the hell you want now?" her voice raised with the increasing anger she felt.

Sesshoumaru Tanaka looked as bored as ever. He didn't exactly seem surprised at her anger; it was like he expected it. "If you're done, I would now like us to leave," he said calmly.

"What?" Kagura let out a sarcastic laugh. "Leave with you? And why would I want to do _that?_" she crossed her arms under her breasts as she waited for him to answer her.

"If you want to live, you will follow me," he scanned her living room.

_What the hell?_

"Excuse me?" Kagura gave him the are-you-threatening-me look. The emotion she was feeling right now was between challenge and confusion. "Is that a threat? I am going nowhere with you. You hear that? _No where!_"

Kagura saw Sesshoumaru Tanaka exhale slowly. Then without saying anything he grabbed Kagura and casted her on his left shoulder as he walked toward the front door.

"Hey!" she yelled as she squirmed like a worm on his shoulder. "Let me down this instant! Kidnapping is illegal!" she yelled.

"I am not kidnapping you," he said in his usual cold tone as he exited her house. He walked about twenty feet away from her house when he put her back on her feet. Kagura balanced herself.

"Tell me why I'm out here with you standing about fifteen feet away from my house. I'm bare footed on my front lawn and the damn grass is fucking _wet!_" Kagura yelled, her temper getting the best of her. She shivered when a cold wind blew. "And it's chilly and I'm..." she stopped and finished the rest of the sentence in her head.

_Wearing a thin nightgown that barely covers anything..._

_...Great._

"I'm going back inside," she simply stated and was about to head toward her house when Sesshoumaru Tanaka grabbed her arm.

"I would not recommend that," he said, looking into her heated eyes with no more than a dull expression. Suddenly everything he was saying made sense since Kagura's beautiful bungalow exploded in front of her eyes. Pieces of broken glass, bricks and metal flew in every direction. "Move back," he said, already dragging her to the road away from the exploding glass.

"No..." Kagura whispered, her eyes wide, as she tried to walk back to her house but Sesshoumaru Tanaka's grip on her arm kept her from doing so. "Let go of me! I have to save it!" she screamed trying to free her arm.

"You go in there, you're as good as dead," his voice was calm.

_How could he be so calm?_!

But he was right, her whole house was burning but she couldn't just stand there and watch everything she ever worked for turn into ash. Someone like Sesshoumaru Tanaka wouldn't understand anything like that because he had money. Losing a house or a mansion was nothing to rich people like him but it was all she had. And she was watching her possessions burned to a crisp. The house that was going to be hers in a few years...her dream; they were both slipping away.

Suddenly it hit her. She turned her head to look at his face. It was calm as usual.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" Kagura asked quietly. "How the hell did you know it was going to burn?" He looked at her for a second then turned his attention back to her flaming house.

His silence said it all.

"Did you set it up?"

"Sesshoumaru Tanaka would never do such thing," he confirmed.

"But you know who did it," it wasn't a question but a statement. She watched his jaw clenched for a few moments.

_Silence says it all._

"My life..." Kagura inhaled as the bastard in front of her looked at her again. "...is ruined because of _you_... My life is turned upside down because of _you. _Everything I worked for is turning to _ash _because of _you_! All the hard work I did is vanishing in front of my _eyes_! _Because of you!" _Kagura could _kill _this guy if she didn't have self morals. "And for what? For what?! For slapping you? Is that what this is all about? That's fucking low even for you! Why do I have to suffer? Why am _I_ the only one suffering from the instant I met you?!" she screamed.

She was about to scream some more at him when she suddenly felt exhausted.

_Why am I even wasting my breath on him? He probably doesn't even give a fuck about what's happening to me..._

She stayed quiet.

_My life... is ruined. Everything I love is burning. What am I supposed to do now?_

Overall she felt angry but underneath all the red anger was emptiness. A part of her was shocked that she wasn't crying or strangling the guy who still held her arm.

_It was all because of him. All because of him that now I'm...I'm..._

Sesshoumaru Tanaka was watching her curiously. He loosened his grip on her arm, but still held her.

"Come," he said and was about to pull her toward him when she jerked her arm away from his grip and stared at her flaming house. "Are you planning to stand here all night?"

She didn't want to be around him anymore. She hated him even more. She didn't care that he saved her life. Clearly her life needed saving because of him. She saw everything that had happened in the last few minutes as his fault, making her refuse to move.

Kagura felt something rub against her left calf. She looked down to see Chiko rubbing against her. It was her Tabby cat, a male cat about which she hadn't thought about all night. Chiko usually stayed with her but sometimes he liked to wander around the neighbourhood. She hadn't seen him in two whole days. He was probably at Nami's-her neighbour- he usually was there when he wasn't home.

_How could I forget him?_

She picked him up and hugged him. He was the only thing close to comfort right now. The firemen had arrived, Kagura hadn't heard siren, probably since she was lost in her own miserable world.

"Anyone else in the house, sir?" One of the firemen asked Sesshoumaru Tanaka and he shook his head. "Sir, you might want to..." Kagura tuned out the conversation. She didn't want to hear anything or anyone. Chiko seemed to understand the situation well since he rumbled against her chest. Kagura petted him continuously until he quieted down.

_That's right Chiko. We lost everything. We are now officially homeless._

Kagura felt a tug on her arm again, and this time she let Sesshoumaru Tanaka drag her wherever he was taking her. When she came out of her world, she realized she was sitting in his car, with Chiko still hugged against her chest. She tuned out again, and came back to reality when she felt someone pull her out of the car. Sesshoumaru Tanaka of course. He led her into his mansion with a hand behind her back.

They entered the mansion and a familiar elderly person greeted the master. "Which..." She heard him ask something but Kagura didn't bother listening. What good would come of listening to them? She wasn't curious to know what they were talking about anyways.

She was led somewhere again but this time she didn't bother looking. She didn't care. She just went wherever she was lead without noticing anything. She heard someone say her name. She looked up at Sesshoumaru Tanaka. She saw his mouth move, he was saying something...whatever that was. He gave her a gentle push into a room; she didn't bother taking in the objects that were there, she didn't even bother looking.

_Was he giving her a room?_

She walked slowly into the room and went straight for the bed that was across from the door. She sat down in the middle and let Chiko stretch on the bed. She felt herself lie on the bed and take off her glasses, or did someone do that for her? She wasn't sure; she just lied there and watched Chiko snuggle against her chest once again.

She heard the click from the closing of the door to the room, and only then did the tears escape her eyes.

----

**Review~^^**

**Till Next time. **

**kon-KON**


	4. The Decisions

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha sadly, T.T**

**A/N: Thank you for all the people who reviewed. I apologize for the delay but getting into Sesshoumaru's character is kind of hard .. **

**For all the _How Sentimental_**** fans, let me know if you want the story updated since I don't want to update the story with no one even remembers it; it was quite long ago so I don't blame y'all.**

**Please let me know through reviews or PMs, whichever you prefer. Thank you ^^.**

**----**

**Loose Canon**

**----**

I was officially homeless after that night. Of course I was brought into Sesshoumaru Tanaka's house but it still wasn't my home. I felt destitute.

For the meanwhile, I was staying with the man I hated dearly and wasn't sure how I was to handle the situation. Sesshoumaru Tanaka knew how I despised him from my behaviour, I know he knew and yet he had still let me into his house without a second thought. I didn't know what to make of him.

One minute he was insulting me and the other he was being Mr. 'I-Can-be-Nice-Too'. It bugged me, probably since Mr. 'One-Minute-Jerk-Second-Nice' had more to him than I actually believed.

But that didn't mean I liked him.

He was still on my hate list.

**----**

**Chapter 4**

**The Decisions**

**----**

Sesshoumaru quietly closed the door to the guest room where Kagura Kamiya laid on her bed...crying. She may not realize it but she was crying moderately hard and ...loudly. Sesshoumaru exhaled and went toward his bedroom which was located at the end of the hall. He wasn't sleepy, so he stopped halfway to his bedroom and turned around to go downstairs toward his study.

He passed Suzuki as he entered his study, filled with hundreds of books of every genre. He'd probably read about a dozen of those out of hundred; he never had the time. When he was free of his work for the Tanaka Corporation, that is when he bothered picking up a book.

He sat down on the chair at his huge desk.

However, he wasn't free tonight. He had matters besides the company to deal with. Kagura Kamiya, and more importantly, Sara. That woman had a nerve to be placing such matters in his hands when he least needed it. That woman was a thorn in his side from the moment he had met her; told her too but either she was too dense to understand that Sesshoumaru had no particular interest in her or she refused to accept it. He didn't know which was truer, though he would bet his money on the first often.

Sara was dense. Too dense to understand that his affairs were only his and no one should take them in their hands, not even a mere useless wench like Sara. Now because of her, Kagura Kamiya was the matter he now had to personally deal with. Lovely.

Not that he hated the woman; he hated the situation he was in.

A knock interrupted his thoughts; it was Suzuki. He came in and set a cup of coffee on his desk.

"I thought I told you to go to bed," Sesshoumaru simply stated as he picked up the cup and took a sip.

"I am," Suzuki said as he quietly left but five minutes hadn't fully passed when Sara burst into his study.

"Not an appropriate time to visit my house, Sara," he said, not caring a bit about the anger he saw in her grey eyes.

"You're awake anyways," she stated, noticeably trying to sound calm yet failed to do so.

"You are to blame for that," he glared at her. Sara swallowed.

"Why?" She questioned him in a shaking voice. "Why did you do it?!" she screamed.

Sesshoumaru took another sip of his coffee and cleared his throat, "Know your place Sara. You do not have the authority to scream at me in my house." He told her coldly and saw her face turn crimson. "I do not need to answer you in my house. Now, you will answer me. What is the reason for this intolerable mess you have created for me? Do you have any idea what this could do to my reputation?" Sesshoumaru didn't like being the reason for a destruction of a blameless woman.

"I thought you'd be pleased," Sara decalred. When all she got a blank stare from Sesshoumaru as an answer, she confessed. "She slapped and insulted you."

_This woman doesn't get some things does she?_

"My matter," Sesshoumaru never looked away from her now fearful face. "not yours."

"But I thought you wanted it," she almost sobbed which again got her another glare from Sesshoumaru. "She slapped you," she repeated looking down at the floor.

"You are to be blamed for that also," he took another sip. "I did deserve that slap, I admit it clearly. But you are still the same coward who wouldn't admit the fault was yours and the other woman that night who insulted her."

Sara's eyes widened. "Why are you siding with that woman?" she hissed.

"You are a coward, Sara, that's why. She was angry; she slapped me in my face. You are angry you stab her in the back. The term is 'coward'." Sara gasped. "You clearly seem to forget that it is because of you now I have to deal with that woman. And also I know you do not have the decency to admit what you did is wrong."

She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw the look Sesshoumaru gave her.

"Listen carefully, you will apologize to this woman when the time is right and you will also take responsibly for what you have done. You will rebuild her house, exactly the way it was."

"I will not!" she cried.

"Then you will be spending quite some time in jail for the attempt of murder," he explained.

"You wouldn't do that..."

"If you doubt my actions Sara, you are willing to test them," he said coldly. "I will not let reputation ruin because of the actions of one selfish woman. I am a witness Sara, so is the guy you sent to explode the house; I will testify if you do not do as I say.

"Building a mare bungalow shouldn't be hard for you," he continued. "Do it, or things will get hideous. I will make sure that this woman gets her justice." Sesshoumaru wouldn't go that far but if Sara attempted anything in future that could stain his status, he would see to it that the woman was out of his way.

Women were trouble. Thorns. Yet he brought one home, not an hour ago, willingly.

"Is that understood?" he coldly inquired. Sara nodded close to tears, not that Sesshoumaru cared about her tears. "Good. Leave now," he ordered and finished his coffee. Sara left, she probably knew that Kagura Kamiya was in the house, but she wouldn't dare do anything now for her life was more precious to her than anything else.

----

After an hour when sleep was finally catching up with him, Sesshoumaru walked back upstairs to retire in his bedroom. Before going to his room, he stopped in front of the guestroom Kagura Kamiya was resting. Her sobs had quieted as she was probably asleep by now.

He opened the door and entered the guestroom. She was still lying in the same way she was when he left hours ago. Lying in the centre of the bed on her left side with her cat snuggled against her chest. He had removed her glasses earlier, surprised at how much softer and naive she looked without them.

The first time he had seen her that night was a shock; the _only_ woman properly dressed at the party. That was what had pulled him toward her, he had planned to go alone but the nature of jealous women, Sara and some other blond had joined him, and he hadn't dismissed them.

A mistake he now realized. He didn't mean to insult her but his sudden attraction to her had made him surprisingly angry.

She was breathtaking that night. Even with her thin rimmed glasses hiding her eyes and hair put up in a tight bun, she still looked splendid. He wasn't sure at their first meeting why he found her grand, then realized at the gallery that it was her eyes. The poppy red colour stood out with her pale skin and black hair.

Despite her good looks, she tended to bring out the anger in him. The slap had kept him angry for those two days, though he knew it was his fault. However, the pride in him refused to accept it until they had met again at the gallery.

_Confusing woman._

Sesshoumaru turned off the lights from the switch, located on the right side of the doorway. He turned around and closed the door again and once again headed toward his room. Once he entered his room and closed the bedroom door, he stripped off his cloths and climbed into his sheets. Only then did he notice something fluffy jumped on his bare chest.

It was her cat.

Who seemed to have snuck out of the guestroom and slip into his.

The cat meowed and gave him a sleepy look. He sighed and closed his eyes.

----

The light steaming in from the window woke Kagura up that morning. The room was bright; the white curtains lighting up the whole room. Kagura rubbed her eyes to blink away the sleepiness as she sat up on the bed. For the first time, she looked around the guestroom.

It was the size of her living room. On the left was the huge ceiling to floor window with white curtains; a small sofa sat at the left corner where she entered the room across from the bed, two doors to the right. One looked like a closet, the other was an opaque glass door to her right.

Curiosity was every woman's middle name, so Kagura got up from the bed and walked up to the impenetrable glass door and opened it. It was a washroom.

_What did you expect, The Cave of Wonders?_

She entered the washroom and looked into the mirror above the sink and gasped as soon as she saw her reflection. Her eyes were swollen, and her cheeks and nose where red from all the crying.

_Cried a river..._

A knock sounded on the door. Kagura quickly rinsed her face and patted it dry with a towel and exited the washroom. _Please be someone else, _she prayed as she walked toward the door, _anyone but him. _She opened the door and sighed in relief. It was a maid, a young redhead with brown eyes and a bright smile carrying bunch of garment bags and some other cases.

"Good morning, Miss Kagura," she greeted brightly. "I'm Ami." Kagura opened the door widely and let the maid in the room.

"'Morning Ami," Kagura addressed her after a few moments. She watched Ami enter the room, head toward the bed and watched her lay whatever she was carrying on the soft surface. "What are those?" Kagura pointed at the things Ami had put on the bed.

"Oh, clothes," Ami smiled. "Mr. Sesshoumaru said you needed some for this morning. He said he'll take you shopping later today or tomorrow but 'til then, these should do it. They should all fit, so just pick whatever you'd like to wear. I'll put the rest in the closest." She offered her another smile.

_Great._

Was he trying to put her in debt? She didn't want anything from this man. But at this moment she had no choice but to go with whatever was laid on the bed.

_But shopping with that man? Yeah, like I'm gunna let that happen. _

"Thank you, Ami," Kagura said. "Have you, by chance seen a cat somewhere?" She hadn't seen Chiko anywhere in the room.

"Oh the Tabby?"

"Yes, that would be the one."

"Its wondering around the house. Oh It's a 'he' right?"

Kagura nodded. This woman said "oh" a lot.

"Oh, we fed him this morning. We don't have cat food, so then Hiten- he works in the kitchen- gave him milk," she giggled. "He got hyper after that, oh and don't worry, I'll go buy some this afternoon when I go grocery shopping. We don't have any pets here. Mr. Sesshoumaru never brought one home so it's kinda fun having a cat follow you everywhere. I think it's really cute. So what's the cat's name?"

"Uh, Chiko," Kagura didn't know what else to say. Did the staff really think that she was going to stay in this house from now on? It sure sounded like it. First the shopping for the cloths and now buying the cat food. Kagura wondered if she should tell the maid not to bother with the food, since she wasn't sure if she was even going to come back to this house again, but Ami seemed happy so she kept quite.

"Oh well, you might want to get ready now and such. I'll leave you to it. Come downstairs for breakfast when you're done. Oh, there's also a makeup kit, in there somewhere. I'll take the things out while you shower," she smiled and started going through the things she had brought in. Kagura took it as a hint and went to shower.

---

Kagura had picked a brown high waisted pencil skirt with a silk white button down shirt with brown stripes and brown pumps that had also left in by Ami. Everything fit perfectly; she wasn't surprised. Not to mention expensive. The shirt itself was probably over a hundred or something. She'd never worn cloths this expensive. She couldn't afford those high priced cloths. She went for the cloths that weren't too cheap nor too expensive.

She did her makeup and left her hair down when she couldn't find anything to tie it up. She slipped on her glasses and walked up to the door, ready to leave but hesitated. She wasn't sure if Sesshoumaru Tanaka was at home or not. She should have asked the girl that. She didn't really want to see his face this morning, it would ruin her whole day.

_Like it isn't bad enough already. Would he be at the breakfast?_

When she finally found her courage, she took a deep breath and stepped into the hallway. Ignoring the loud clicking sound of her heels on the polished marble floor, she walked toward left, since the right only showed doors and a huge painting hung at the end of the hallway.

_If I have to talk to him, then I won't look in his direction. _She thought as she came down the marble stairs, then she just stood there in the huge foyer, not knowing where to go. She knew where the living room was, she was there on the night of the invitation, but where was the dining table? She walked toward the hall and came to the huge living room, but then stood there. There were four more small hallways.

_What is this a museum?_

Thankfully, before she could make a choice, the old butler, Suzuki, came to the living room. Finally, he led her to the huge dining table where thankfully no one else sat.

"Um where is...?" Kagura couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

"Master Sesshoumaru left earlier, he had some important matters to attend," Suzuki said as he pulled out a chair from the table for Kagura to sit.

"Thank you," Suzuki nodded and Kagura let out a sigh of relief.

----

Sesshoumaru parked his Mercedes in the garage with the other cars he owned. It was a little past four meaning he had decided to come home early. Partly since one, he couldn't concentrate due to a certain woman and two, he was tired. He had gotten only three hours worth of sleep since he woke up early to leave early because he knew the woman staying in the guestroom would not want to see his face this morning.

He got out of the Mercedes and walked into the house. Suzuki greeted him immediately and took his suit jacket, which he had taken off earlier, and his black leather briefcase.

"I'll be in the study, Suzuki," Sesshoumaru walked as he loosened his red tie. "Send in a cup of coffee."

"Right away, Master Sesshoumaru," he heard Suzuki say.

He entered the study and went to his black leather chair at his desk. He leaned back in the comfortable chair and closed his eyes. After what felt like a year, he heard the study's room open and the aroma of coffee hit him.

"Here you are, Sir," the talkative Ami set the coffee on the desk. Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and reached for the cup. He took a sip and almost groaned in pleasure and looked up at Ami who was still standing there, evidently having something to say. As usual. "The cloths you asked for Miss Kagura were delivered five minutes before Miss Kagura woke up, Sir. At least I think it was five minutes. Then we had a nice chat..." he tuned her out, he didn't want to listen to her yapping when he was dying with fatigue. "...then I found out the cat's name is Chiko and— "

"Ami," Sesshoumaru interrupted her exhaustingly. Ami took the hint and left the study. The cat- Chiko- that came in with her stayed and sat near his feet, staring up at him with its green eyes. Sesshoumaru stared back, only receiving the same stare from him. "You're a 'him' correct? Chiko gives the vibe of a 'him'," he muttered.

The cat meowed and scratched at his right leg, pleading to be held.

_This is the reason I don't have pets, even when Rin brings up this subject every day._

Sesshoumaru bent over and picked up the cat and sat it in his lap. After an hour or so had passed when Suzuki suddenly came into the study.

"Master Sesshoumaru," said Suzuki. "The driver came back alone from the gallery."

Sesshoumaru swore in his mind. How much more trouble was this woman going to give him? He picked up Chiko and put him of the floor before standing up.

"When does her day end?" He asked as he pulled off his tie completely and threw it on the desk.

"Ended half an hour ago," he answered. "I sent Haku earlier." Sesshoumaru nodded and exited the study with the cat and Suzuki behind him. Then, without saying another word he left the house.

----

Kagura sighed for the hundred time that day as she exited her office and walked to the lobby. She was the last one left at the gallery today-except for Goro. She had sent the driver, Haku, back home without her since she didn't wanted to go back into that house again. Everyone at work had heard the news of her house. Ayame, Abi and Jakotsu had even offered her their places but she had kindly refused. Now she was regretting her decision.

She had _no place _to live. She would have gone to Kaguya's but she was out of town. She even considering going back to The Tanaka Mansion but her pride was too big. She didn't want to live with the same guy who was the reason of her homelessness.

She sighed again and let Goro lock the lobby. She said goodbye to him and walked toward the parking lot, not knowing what else to do. When she reached the lot, she just stood there, staring at the sky. It was cloudy with dark clouds starting to gather. Kagura wanted to cry. Bad weather was a homeless person's worst enemy. Of course there were other things such as food and shelter but weather did it for today. It was going to rain soon, and she had nowhere to go.

She couldn't stay in the gallery since her co-workers would know her situation and she couldn't allow that. She really did want to cry now.

"Go ahead," she heard the voice, that belonged to the man she hated dearly, say. Kagura looked behind her and saw him leaning back with composure against what appeared to be a black W212 Mercedes wearing a white shirt and black pants. He looked like someone woke him up from a quick nap on a sofa or something.

"Excuse me?" Kagura managed to say.

"You are probably thinking of crying," he said in his usual moderate tone. "And before you give me the 'and-whose-fault-is-that' speech, get in car." When Kagura didn't budge, he sighed loudly. "Now what?"

"Who was it?" Kagura asked. "Who did it?"

"You'll know," he looked passed her.

"Who?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself."

"I have the right to know!"

"You do, it's just better if you do not find out right now," he replied. "You are angry, and anger right now will make this matter much worse than it already is if you find out who's behind this. Since we are on this subject, your house construction will start right away."

"That doesn't help me right now," she looked down at the expensive pumps she was wearing.

"It may not, but it is what it is," he leaned off the car and headed toward the driver's seat. "Accept it."

She knew he was right, and she hated him for it.

"I despise you," Kagura said when she couldn't find anything else to say.

He took it in, nodded once, "Now get in," he opened the driver seat door.

"I will not," Kagura glared.

"Know this," he closed the door and came back to the passenger's side and stood there. "You don't have any other choice. Your house is not finished, you don't have any money to stay at a motel since everything you own was destroyed, and you're too proud to stay with one of your employees," he opened the passenger's door for her. "Now get in."

_He just had to rub in the salt on my wounds didn't he? I know the truth damn it; he doesn't have to actually throw it in my face. But damn him to hell, he's right._

After what seemed like a century, she walked to the car and stopped, "It's co-workers, not employees," she explained and then slipped into the passenger's seat.

----

**Review ^^. The next chapter is completed, I just have to get it edited. Again thank you Jelly for editing ;)**

**For _How Sentimental_****, fans, do tell your opinions.**

**Till next time.**

**kon-KON~**


	5. The New Acquaintance

**Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Inuyasha, wish I did so Kagura and Sesshoumaru would have been together T.T**

**A/N: Here is the newest chapter, enjoy. Thank you all who reviewed. **

**----**

**Loose Canon**

**----**

So, I wasn't homeless... for now.

It was decided. I was to live with a man I had met three days ago and barely knew anything about him except the fact he was a jerk and rich [in my opinion]. Sure he gave me a place to live and cloths to put on my back, but the fact that he wouldn't tell me who was behind the destruction of my house, drove me to the edge.

It wasn't his place to decide that for me. It was mine. It was my life and my house that had been ruined so I sure as hell had the right to know who was behind it and why!

And what had he said?

_It's better if you do not find out now._

What the hell?! I decide that, not him!

The little bit of hate that had been doing down because he actually saved me and gave me a place to live [not that I would admit it to him] kept coming back up when he refused to give me the name of the person responsible for this mess.

Damn him to hell!

**----**

**Chapter 5**

**The New Acquaintance**

**----**

Kagura sat quietly in the Mercedes and looked straight ahead, ignoring the presence of the person beside her. She wanted to sigh, badly. The more she tried to avoid him and tried to keep away from him, the more she ended up with him. Like now, she was desperately trying to ignore the guy, yet desperately failed every time. She cast another glance from the corner of her at the man driving the expensive car.

His left hand on the automatic handle, the other gripped the steering wheel. Again he was looking straight ahead without even a glance toward her direction since they had settled in the car- Kagura looked at the clock on the car's stereo system- five minutes ago.

_Five minutes, seems more like five months._

Kagura turned her head and looked outside the window. It was darker out. The grey clouds now covered all the blue sky from all directions to be seen; it was going to start raining soon. Hatefully, now she didn't have to worry about the rain, nor the clouds but now she was stuck with _this_ guy until God only knew when. Kagura looked at the time again.

Ten minutes.

Kagura sighed softly and got comfortable in the seat. The car certainly was comfortable. She could sleep there all night without getting stiff. She looked outside the window again.

_Wait a minute._

They were heading the opposite direction from his house. Sesshoumaru Tanaka's house was located on the southern side of the city but the car was heading north.

She turned to him, "Um...isn't your house the opposite direction?" He looked calm, what a surprise, she thought crudely. For the first time since their ride together, Sesshoumaru Tanaka looked at her.

"It is," he said simply.

_It is? That is? That's all he's gonna say?_

She hated this man. Instead of beating around the bush, why couldn't he just beat the damn bush? It would save time. Just like last night. What had he said?

_If you want to live, you will follow me._

If he had just said, "_Your house will explode, so get out", _it would have saved the arguments she threw at him, and maybe she would have had enough time to at least get her purse or _something. _But no, this man seemed to love talking in riddles. Or did he just do it to her to annoy her?

Suddenly she had to know.

"Do you do this to everyone?" Kagura spat out. He turned his head toward her again, his right eyebrow raised questioning, _What? _"Beat around the bush, instead of just getting to the point? _Wasting_ _time_?" she answered his unspoken question with her own questions. He didn't say anything but just looked ahead again, concentrating on the driving.

_Of course you're gonna ignore the question now. I bet he does it to annoy me._

"Okay, so you're not going to answer now,"-big surprise, she thought sarcastically- "do I get to know _why_ we are heading the opposite direction?"

He remained silence again.

"Aw," she said sarcastically, "another poor question is unanswered." When he looked at her, frowning, Kagura gave him one of her best fake smiles and he turned his gaze back at the road.

This was going to be a long ride.

----

After what seemed like five years to Kagura, the car stopped in the parking lot of what seemed to be like a shopping centre but not the normal kind of shopping centre Kagura was used to. This was...fancy. For rich people probably.

"Why are we here?" Kagura asked when she followed behind Sesshoumaru Tanaka as they entered the glass tunnel that led to the centre. He was really tall, Kagura noticed for the first time as she stared at his back while they walked. She hurried a few steps so she was now walking beside him and looked up at him as she waited for an answer.

"Do you not need clothes?" He simply stated, making the question sound more like a general statement. So that's where he was leading.

_He could have said that in the car!_ Kagura thought despising the situation she was in. She didn't want anything else from this man, she had her own pride to protect. Oh how she was wishing that she wasn't home and moneyless...

They entered the shopping center and stood there for a moment. They were currently on the second floor and there were no stairs to be seen, though elevators could be seen here and there. Overall, the centre had three floors with a bluish and purplish light to the glass. The boutique also looked like one of those over-priced designer shops. Kagura noticed something, all the shops she could see, all of them contained women or children clothing.

"Do you shop here? Because as far as my glasses vision can see, these are all...women clothing shops," she said, not really expecting an answer. Not to mention a majority of people seen _were_ women. Kagura didn't even know this place existed.

"No," he surprised her by answering as he led her to a designer shop on the floor they were on.

"Ahhhhhhh," she exaggerated scornfully. "That is why he seems to know _exactly_ where to go." She offered him another fake smile when he looked at her, then exhaled and turned back his head wherever he was looking before.

_That's what you get for not telling me what I deserved to know, Tanaka. _

She thought of sticking out her tongue at him but thought otherwise when she saw a couple of women pass, glancing with sexy cat eyes at the man beside her.

_Oh please. _Kagura rolled her eyes.

They entered the shop and a woman suddenly greeted them. "Good evening , Miss, how may I be of your assistance?" She smiled.

_So much for, "I don't shop here". _

"Go pick whatever you want," he said as he walked to the black one seat sofa and sat down.

"This way, Miss," the woman said to her before Kagura could throw another comment at his face. Kagura sighed and followed her. The shop was big; it had everything from underwear to casual to business to evening cloths. There was a huge section for accessories and shoes. A few minutes ago, she hated the thought of Sesshoumaru Tanaka buying cloths for her but now as she looked at the shop she didn't really care.

Since he refused to tell her who burnt her house, he was going to pay for that with his money, Kagura thought evilly.

"Bring me everything you have in my size," she instructed to the worker wickedly.

----

Sesshoumaru flipped through the magazine that he had grabbed from the nearest small table, barely aware to what he was seeing in that magazine. His mind was off somewhere else; he just wanted to look busy. He wasn't sure why he didn't tell her who was behind the destruction of her house, but he did. Perhaps since he knew if she found out, she would try to get back at Sara. He didn't really care about Sara but Kagura Kamiya would put herself in more trouble if she found out who put her house to flame.

He sighed and put the magazine back on the small table on his left.

"Mr. Tanaka, can I offer you anything to drink?" A different woman who worked there asked him. He went for a cup of coffee since he needed it. This woman tired him out with her comments and her glares. Sesshoumaru sighed.

The worker came and set the cup of coffee on the table, smiled and left him alone again. He didn't shop here. No, his sister-in-law, Kagome, loved this store and had dragged him here a few times, forcefully.

"Sesshoumaru," a cheerful voice sounded from the door.

_Speak of the devil._

Sesshoumaru didn't have to look to see who the voice belonged to. "What. A. Surprise!" His sister-in-law, Kagome Tanaka –Kagome Higurashi before she married into the Tanaka family- walked up to him and stood there, grinning down at him. "What brings you here? My fine memory reminds me that you hate this store," she sat down into the one of the sofas across from his.

"I do," Sesshoumaru sipped his coffee. "Do you not have anything else to do but shop?"

"Hey, I don't shop _every day._ Inuyasha went out of the city on...some project and I was bored. So here I am," she said cheerfully.

The Railway Project, Sesshoumaru remembered.

"You haven't answered my question, why are _you_ here?" Sesshoumaru looked away, not finding it important to answer the question. "Going to ignore this one are you? Fine, I'll find out myself," she put her purse on the sofa and got up. Sesshoumaru watched her walk up to the woman who had brought him coffee. He looked away, not caring.

His sister-in-law needed to learn how to stay out of his affairs.

----

Kagura looked down at the pile she had tried on already. All were in either black, navy blue or brown colours. Should she go after some colour too? She usually wore dark colours, but it wouldn't hurt to have some bright colours as well, especially since some rich annoying man was paying for all this stuff.

"Go with some colour," Kagura heard someone say from behind her, she turned around to see a stunning woman with brown eyes and long black hair wearing a shinny white blouse and a green knee-length bubble skirt. "Those are enough dark colours," she walked up to her. "Sorry to jump at you without introduction. I'm Kagome Tanaka," she offered Kagura her hand. "Sesshoumaru's sister-in-law."

"Oh," Kagura shook her hand. "Kagura Kamiya."

"Again, that's a lot of dark colours," she eyes her pile.

Kagura grinned. "I was thinking of going for some colour, but wasn't sure which colours to go for," she explained. "My old wardrobe was filled with dark colours; I have trouble with getting the right colours."

"Well in that case, I'm more than willing to help you," Kagome smiled and walked over to some racks and started looking through cloths. "So you came with Sesshoumaru right?" Kagura nodded and pulled out a dark purple bow pencil dress that was in her size. "So how'd you meet?" Kagome pulled out a red high waisted skirt, and held it toward an employee, "Excuse me, can you get that in her size?" the worker nodded and disappeared behind another rack to search for the skirt in Kagura's size.

"It's kind of a long story," Kagura pulled out another bright blue skirt.

"Well, I have all the time in the world for it," she grinned. Kagura told her the whole story while they picked out cloths and tried them on. An hour or so passed by like that. "He didn't even give you a hint about who did it?" Kagome asked as Kagura finished telling her the tale.

"Nope," Kagura tried on a pair of red pumps. They had moved to shoes section after the cloths and underwear shopping.

"Is that why you're taking your time with this?" asked Kagome, indicating towards the hour Kagura spent shopping and she still wasn't done.

Kagura looked at her shocked, "You noticed that?" Then smiled when Kagome nodded, "Well he won't die waiting; it's just a tiny punishment."

Kagome grinned, "I think he knows that now."

"Okay, we're done here," Kagura sighed finally deciding she had enough of clothes for now. "Shopping is tiring."

"Yup, but it's also fun."

----

When they had paid and were leaving, Kagome stayed with Kagura, Sesshoumaru Tanaka hadn't really noticed that she was with them until she had opened the backseat door.

"Why are you getting in?" Sesshoumaru had asked.

"Well, I came by taxi and now I feel like spending time with Kagura," Kagome had pouted. "Something wrong with that?" Sighing but saying nothing, Sesshoumaru got into the driver's side and waited for both females to have their seatbelts on before starting the car and driving home.

They had eaten dinner quietly and then Sesshoumaru had mumbled something about being in the study and left the women alone.

"Which school do you teach at?" Kagura asked Kagome as she sipped her tea. "It is an elementary school right?"

"Yup, Aoba Elementary School." She smiled. "I teach the sixth grade, it's great being a teacher. You get the summer off," she giggled. "That's where I met Inuyasha, he came to pick up Rin two years ago. She wasn't my student since at the time she was six but anyways he kept coming, until he finally asked me out. We dated for months until we got married a year ago...

"...Sesshoumaru adopted Rin when she was four, her parents were killed in a car accident and she survived. Apparently the father worked in Sesshoumaru's company and had no other relatives on his or the mother's side, so Sesshoumaru took her in. Inuyasha said that everyone was quite shocked when Sesshoumaru decided to take in Rin. Inuyasha said that it was the first time he showed any human emotion...

"...apparently Inuyasha owns the Kai Corporation. From what I heard, Inuyasha's father owned two companies, one the Tanaka Corp. and the other Kai Corp. but Inuyasha's father decided that the first born child would get the Tanaka Corp. and the second born would get to Kai Corp. Inuyasha's last name is still Tanaka and the both companies are like cousins but you know sibling rivalry, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are always looking for a chance to get back at each other. From what I heard, they had been like this since they were both kids..." Finally when Kagome finished her long story for Kagura, she sighed. When Kagura looked at the clock on the wall, she noticed that Kagome had been talking for an hour nonstop. It was almost eight. She talked a lot but wasn't so bad as a company. She almost thought of telling her about the time but remembered that her husband was out of the city so remained quite.

"You really work in the famous The Belle Gallery?" Kagome asked as they both got up from the dining table, turning the subject toward her now.

Kagura nodded, "I'm more like the supervisor. Whatever the other coworkers do, they have to confirm with me first."

"That's great," Kagome squeled. "I love art. I was never good at it, but I like looking at it. Inuyasha collects art, although I doubt he even knows anything about it. Same with Sesshoumaru," Kagura nodded at that and walked toward the stairs to go up the guestroom, Kagome followed beside her. "When I asked them both why they collect it, they just said that they were kind of used to it and the house felt empty without them. I didn't understand that until I visited their parents' house. I guess they grow up seeing it.

"His dad said that, 'A good business man knows his way around excellent wine and a fine piece of art work'," they both laughed at that, thinking the same thing.

_Rich people._

They reached her guestroom, "Wow, someone already hung the stuff." Kagura said as she noticed all of her stuff neatly put away in the correct places.

"Yup, get used to that around here. It came as a shock for me too. This kind of routine. All your life you're so used to doing your own laundry and such and then puff! You get married and it's like room service every day," Kagome sat down on the bed, Kagura followed her.

"Well, I'm kind of glad about the whole food already cooked for you; I'm a lousy cook," Kagura explained.

"Yup," Kagome smiled. "At least one good thing comes out for you, eh? By the way, if you're free next Saturday, you should hang out with me and Sango. We do it every week. Just some common talk; we're not tomorrow though since she left to go spend the weekend with her family."

Kagura thought about it. It was a tempting offer. She didn't really have friends since most of the time she spent her days at the gallery and the bit she had left she would stay home with her cat. Speaking of her cat, she watched Chiko come into the guestroom from the opened door.

"Where have you been?" She talked to her cat as he jumped into her lap and turned to Kagome. "Okay, I don't really have anything better to do." she answered Kagome.

"Great, I'll send the driver to pick you up," she petted Chiko. "And whooooo are youuuu, you're so cuteeee. I had a cat too when I was a teenager, Buyo, but he died not so long ago." She stood up. "Well I should go now; I'll come and bug you tomorrow if I'm bored. Well I was gonna do that anyways. Come and pester Sesshoumaru."

Kagura laughed and watched her leave her guestroom and then lied back on the bed, with Chiko still in her lap. It was a long day. She was still mad at Sesshoumaru Tanaka though.

Kagura frowned.

Whenever she thought of him, she always referred to him as "Sesshoumaru Tanaka" never just "Sesshoumaru", not to mention that she also never said his name.

_The signs of hate._

Kagura sighed.

----

After an hour when she couldn't take the boredom, she sat back up and looked around the room. No books, no TV, no....nothing. Study. Yes. Sesshoumaru- yes she was actually dropping the whole "Sesshoumaru Tanaka" thing- mentioned something about a study. It must have books in it. She didn't care what type but she _needed_ to read _something_. She got up, put Chiko on the bed and went downstairs.

She reached the living room and stood there _again_, not knowing where to go. The one hallway on the left led to the dining table and the kitchen. That was all she knew.

_Great._

"Miss Kagura, are you okay?" She turned around and saw Ami.

"Yeah, Ami, can you help me please?" Ami nodded. "I know the one left, leads to the kitchen. But what about the other three hallways?"

"Oh, well, that one leads to the back yard, the pool and the garden," she pointed at the hallway on the right. "The bigger hallway in front of us leads to the library or study if you want to call it that and the smaller hallway in front of us leads to the parlor bar that is attached with a much smaller and more private living room." Kagura nodded.

"Thank you," and went toward the study or library, whatever they call it in his house. She reached a double brown polished wooden swing door. It was closed. She took a deep breath and opened the door, well aware that Seshoumaru was still in there.

And he was. He looked up at her as she entered.

_God doesn't this man have anything better to do? It's Friday night._ She looked at him and noticed the look he was giving her. She hadn't realized she thought that out loud.

"Oh, did I that say that out loud?" She said in a sarcastic tone, "All well," she looked around the study. This _was_ a library. Looked like one too. With stalls and stalls of bookshelves on the left and right of the desk Sesshoumaru was sitting at. One seat sofas were seen in every corner Kagura could see.

_Oh boy. _

Kagura went over to a closest book self on the right and skimmed through the names of the books. All unknown, and what she was getting was science.

_Ugh._

She went over to the one after that and skimmed through there. Mystery novels, another genre she despised. She skimmed through bookshelves after bookshelves until she came across a stall of Romance genre.

_This man reads romance novels? _She looked closely at the back of the books and saw they didn't have a single ridge in them. The novels were still new. She picked out a book from there, without bothering to read the summary on the back. She was going to be in this house for a while, and in the company of a man like Sesshoumaru, she would probably be reading a book rather than talking to him.

_So why bother with the summary, knowing me, I'm going to end up reading all of them. _

Kagura went back to the door and was about to exit when she turned back around and marched up to where Sesshoumaru was sitting on the desk, flipping through some papers and glancing at his laptop as if confirming something. He looked up as she reached the desk.

She had to try one more time.

"Is there something you need Kagura?" he said her name for the first time since they had met.

"Yes, actually, you can help me by telling me why you won't tell me who burnt my house," she put her right hand on her hip.

"What are you going to do when you find out?" He put down his pen.

"I would still _like_ to know."

"No need," he looked back down on the papers spilled on the desk.

_No need? Why that bastard!_

"Oh so you're deciding things for _me_ now?" When he didn't answer, Kagura's anger flared. She looked down at the cup of coffee that was on the desk, it was untouched and steam was still coming out of it.

_Fine then, we handle things this way._

"Well then," Kagura picked up the coffee cup. She personally wanted to spill the coffee over the papers but thought that was a bit too much considering she was in his house and for what he had done for her so far. "There's _no need_ to be having coffee at nine o'clock on a Friday night," she turned around and left the study with the cup of coffee in one hand and the book in the other.

----

**A/N: I realized the chapter was a bit tedious but Kagura needs to get settled in and she needed a friend ;].**

**Don't forget to review, I'm eager to know what you guys think.**

**kon-KON**


	6. The New Lifestyle

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Inuyasha.**

**A/N: My apologizes for not updating last week, had some issues and such. Again thanks to my lovely friend for editing and all the people who reviewed and put the story on their favourite list and alerted. :)**

**Enjoy, do review.**

**----**

**Loose Canon**

**----**

Sesshoumaru was my rescuer, not that I would ever admit that to him. Sure he was a jackass but he also saved my life, and no matter how hard I wanted to, I couldn't forget that.

But his life was full of flaws!

The man had no life; he lived in his study, ignoring everyone except when he needed coffee. But I did realize that he had a soft spot for his daughter, Rin. He didn't show it, of course he wore his usual 'I-take-no-shit-from-you' and 'You-bore-me' expressions but deep down even I knew that he could take responsibility for his actions.

I, being an example. Now just because I admit this, doesn't mean that my feelings toward him are changing. I still hate him, he still annoys me and...and...

Well, I still hate him!

That ass!

**----**

**Chapter 6**

**The New Lifestyle**

**----**

He had no life whatsoever, Kagura decided as she sat in the small living room that was attached to the parlour bar, drinking a glass of wine while reading another romance novel on Sunday evening after dinner. He had literally spent the whole two days [Saturday and Sunday] in the study doing... whatever he was doing. He left only to eat.

Who does that?

The only time she worked at home after hours or on the weekends was whenever it was something big such as the annual exhibition. But that was it, other than that she would relax, watch TV, read a book or do other non-work related activities.

But this guy was more than workaholic. Looking back to her usual routine, Kagura had once used the term "workaholic" for her but now understood that she wasn't a workaholic. She had normal work hours. This guy on the other hand _didn't. _He deserved this term; in fact he deserved the award of the year for The Best Workaholic in the city.

She was still angry at him for refusing to tell her what she needed to know. And his "No need" sentence drove her to the edge every time she thought about it. But she was revenging him...through coffee and sarcasm. This was what she found out so far that irritated him; he loved his coffee –disgusting habit – so therefore she had attacked his coffee.

Kagura smiled at the thought. She had stolen every cup of coffee cup that was headed toward his direction or was in his presence. He didn't say anything, but she knew it irritated him. However that was what he deserved. If he was going to decide things for her, she would do the same for him.

_Too much coffee is not good for a healthy man,_ she smiled at the new motto she had been throwing in his face. Tomorrow was Monday and she had to go back to work. She could hardly wait; there was nothing to do in this house. She hadn't done anything but read or talk to Suzuki or Ami. Kagome had visited yesterday but after she left, Kagura was bored again. Sesshoumaru barely got out of his study, the only time she saw his face was during meals or whenever she went to the study to snatch away his coffee.

Kagura sighed and sipped her wine. She wasn't in the mood to read, there was nothing interesting to watch on the television except news or some other series she had never seen before.

"Miss Kagura?" Kagura turned to see Ami standing a foot away from. "Mr. Tanaka just ordered for another cup of coffee," she whispered.

"Don't take it to him," she whispered back.

Ami nodded and tiptoed back to the hallway.

Kagura smiled as she got up and filled a new glass of wine and carried it to the study, she needed an excuse to go in and she had it or Sesshoumaru might fire Ami for telling her every time Sesshoumaru asked for coffee.

She entered the study and noticed that this time he didn't look up to see who entered, probably expecting her. She went up to the desk and sat in the spare chair that faced Sesshoumaru. After a few minutes when Sesshoumaru still didn't give her a glance, Kagura spoke up, "Can I ask you something?"

No answer. Eyes still on the laptop screen.

"Why are you such a workaholic?" Again nothing. Seeing that he wasn't interested in the conversation Kagura decided to pester him. "You know on weekends, people usually do something that _doesn't_ involved work from their workplace. They go out, or laze around in their home watching TV or reading or just plain _relaxing_ but they do not to work. Even if they love their jobs-- that includes me of course--they keep their work at their workplace the second they step into their house, weekdays or weekends."

Again silence.

"_Normal_ people would," emphasizing on normal, "spend their time with their family. They don't spend the whole day and night in their study working over something that can be done at their workplace at normal work hours." Again receiving nothing but silent treatment. "And speaking of family, why don't you have any family pictures? Or pictures at all? Even if they're not family. I mean having art is good but that's all you've got. Not good if you ask me. But then again it's not like I'm judging or anything."

He gave her a 'yeah-right' look but still didn't say anything.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" she asked him. "It's like I'm talking to myself, a cold silent self I must add --which for extra info-- I'm not." He turned his gaze back at the screen. "Oh I get it. You're giving me the silent treatment. Is this about the coffee?" As if remembering, Sesshoumaru looked toward the door, probably wondering where his coffee was. "Oh it's not coming, I told them not to bring it since it's well into the night." She put the wine glass in front of him. "But I brought you wine, it is better than coffee, it'll help you relax," she gave him a smile, a true smile since she really wanted to laugh at the look on his face, which was between glaring and disbelieve.

"Stop attacking my coffee."

"Wow, finally, a full sentence." Kagura said in fake awe. "Did it hurt to say that much?"

Another glare.

"Look I'm simply doing you a favour. The amount of coffee you drink in a week- and I can imagine that since the amount you drank in two days would equal about a week for a normal person- you start getting heart attacks by the time you're forty."

"The amount of coffee I consume is my choice."

"It is," Kagura said. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't drink at all. Drink. But you drink too much. No one probably told you that before," she put her elbow on the hand of the chair and put her chin in her hand, "since they are probably too scared to say anything to a stern, tightass man such as you, since you'll probably kill them with your glares or sour comments." That got another glare from him. "But then again I'm only saying that since, just like you, think I should know whoever is behind my destruction, I think you shouldn't drink too much coffee."

"That is for your own good."

"Exactly." She smiled. "This is also for your own good. Too much intake of anything is dangerous." She stood up. "Don't ask for coffee after one in the afternoon, or I destroy the current coffeemaker and every other new one that comes in this house," she walked back to the door.

"A good host always listens to his guests," she said as she left the study grinning.

----

Sesshoumaru stared at the closed door of his study. Who did this woman think she was threatening him under his roof? And about coffee of all things? He knew she had come to throw 'why-won't-you-tell-me-who-destroyed-my-house' at his face but he hadn't expected this much. Did all women talk this much? He knew his step-mother, Rin and Kagome did but this woman was at the top for getting to his nerves. Workaholic to pictures to family to coffee. She changed from subject to subject almost smoothly.

Sesshoumaru sighed -which he had been doing a lot since she came into his life- and pick up the wine glass. He examined it before taking a sip.

_Troublesome woman. _

----

Kagura walked back to the chair where she was sitting and noticed that it was already occupied by someone else. A little girl – about eight-- she decided when she was close enough to see who. When she reached the chair she jumped off and stood in front of her, looking up at Kagura with her big sparkly brown eyes and a huge smile. Her hair went down up to middle of her back with a cute small ponytail on the top left side of her head. She was wearing an orange dress.

"I'm Rin," she cheerfully greeted and held out her hand for a handshake.

_She has good manners._

"I'm Kagura," she shook her hand and let go. "You're Sesshoumaru's daughter."

Rin nodded.

_Well at least you're not as cold as him. _

"Are you gonna stay with us, Miss Kagura?" Rin asked.

Kagura nodded. "For a while. So where were you for the past few days? I didn't see you in the house," Kagura sat back on her chair and Rin followed the suit and sat on the neon pink Cozy Sac foam chair -that was probably hers- on the left.

"I was at my grandparent's house for the week 'cuz Daddy said that it was going to be a busy week and that there was gonna be a party. I'm not allowed to stay when there are parties 'cuz the ladies who come are mean and they say bad things to me. So Daddy stopped having parties but he said this one was important so I went to stay with Grandpa and Grandma," she said it in what seemed to Kagura two breaths.

_Another Kagome._

"Can I go see Daddy? I'm not allowed to disturb him when he's working," she pouted.

"Well," Kagura picked up her wine glass from the glass coffee table. "Why don't you go say hi to him and let him know you're back. Blame it on me if he gets angry with you. And later I'll show you my cat."

Rin's eyes lit up, "Okay!" she jumped up and ran out. Kagura smiled.

_Cute._

Five minutes later she skipped back into the smaller living room and sat back down on her neon pink foam chair. She seemed like she was out of breath. She probably told Sesshoumaru the events of the week at her grandparents' house in a breath.

"Can we go see the cat now?" she said when her breath was back to normal. "I always wanted a pet."

Kagura nodded and refilled her wine glass before standing up.

"We have to find it though," she said. "Chiko has the habit of wandering around without caring. But then again, all cats do."

Rin giggled and followed beside her, and they both started the scavenger hunt for the cat.

----

Kagura woke up the next morning with a mild, almost going on severe, headache. She had ended up drinking the whole bottle of couldn't help it. One, the wine was good; second, she needed it after the dreadful days.

She sat up and groaned. Her head was spinning, it was better when she was lying down but seemed to get worse when she sat up. A few moments later when her head was a little better, Kagura heard a knock on the door.

Who could it be at this hour?

"Yes?" Giving the permission to whomever it was behind the door to come in.

A second later, cheerful Rin hustled into the room, "Morning Miss Kagura!" Kagura winced, the loud greeting sending a sharp pain to her head. Goodness, it was eight o'clock in the morning, why was this kid even up? Before she could tell her to be quite, she started chattering, sending waves of pain to her head. She had no idea what Rin was talking about, only that she wanted to forget that she was talking.

When that didn't work, she interrupted Rin. "Rin sweety," not sure how to tell her to shut up --nicely. "Can you not...talk?" she closed her eyes and rubbed her left temple.

"Oh, are you okay, Miss Kagura?" Rin asked her worriedly.

"No...Look," she looked at the little girl. "I'm not feeling very well, so I'm going to have to ask you to be real quiet, okay?" Rin nodded and Kagura continued. "I have to get up for work, so I'm gonna shower. Meanwhile, why don't you play with Chiko," who was lying on the unmade bed, "then we'll go downstairs to eat, alright?" Rin nodded again.

Kagura felt bad for doing this to the kid but she really didn't have any other option, her head was getting worse. She stood up and headed for the washroom.

After she was ready, the two –including Chiko who was in Rin's arms– headed downstairs for breakfast. When they both reached the dining they found Sesshoumaru already sitting at the heat of the dining table reading a newspaper and food untouched, except coffee.

_Typical of a businessman. Losers; can't even eat meals without the stupid newspaper._

Not that she cared. She was rather happy that the papers hid his face. She didn't want to see it especially when she was suffering from a killer headache. She sat on his right, across from where Rin later sat. They ate in silence, Kagura noticed Rin often looking at Sesshoumaru, wishing to talk, but she probably wasn't allowed to "disturb" him when he was reading papers either.

She sighed quietly. She felt bad for the kid, she was a little girl who loved to talk, and she was probably dying to talk to her father. Taking a pitying on her, and hating herself for doing this, she snatched the papers out of Sesshoumaru's hands. He was reading the Business section, big surprise. Kagura folded the paper quietly, avoiding his gaze, and placed it on the empty seat beside her on the right.

Then she met his gaze, who in return was glaring at her.

"Glare all you want," she turned her attention to her food. "She's dying to talk to you," she nodded toward Rin, "the least you could do is give her five minutes of your time at meals. You got the rest of the day to read the papers." After that sentence whatever happened was blurry to Kagura expect that her head was killing her and Rin's constant chatter was not helping, but she didn't have the heart to tell her to be quite when she was finally happy talking to her tightass, jerk father.

Instead she focused on eating and getting something inside her.

"Miss Kagura, can I go to work with you?" Rin's question brought her out of her blurry moment. She focused her attention on the kid who was looking at her with sparkly eyes and a face full of excitement.

"Sure," damnit, she was going to regret this later but she couldn't refuse when she was looking at her like that.

It was going to be a painfully long day.

----

The week passed quickly and before Kagura knew it, it was Saturday and she was sitting in the car Kagome had sent for their promised meet. Rin was sitting beside her; who had decided to tag along because she had nothing better to do. Kagura looked out the window, reviewing the week. The paper work for the artwork was almost done; they had started delivering the artwork yesterday. Kaguya was still out of the city, she had called Kagura two days ago, telling her that her grandmother had passed away, and she would be staying to help with the funeral.

A death of family member was always painful, Kagura thought. She remembered the day when her mother had died when she and Yura were both eighteen. Their father Naraku had left them when they were eight. Her mother had worked hard to raise her two daughters. Too hard that she had forgotten to even look after herself and had died young. Their father was reported dead a few years back, stabbed by someone who he was probably messing with. She didn't really care for the man who had left his family without a second glance, but she missed her mother.

Kagura was thankful when the driver pulled over in a driveway so she couldn't think about her past. She got out and helped Rin out. Kagome met them halfway to the entrance, after a quick greeting and after small talk, she led them to the garden.

"Sango should be here soon," Kagome smiled and they all sat at the table set under the huge tensile umbrella in the garden. "How was your week Rin? Since it's summer and no school."

"I went to work with Miss Kagura the whole week; I saw nice things and Jakky showed me the room full of TV's. It was fun. I helped out too," her eyes lit up as she talked. "I'm going next week too. Miss Kagura says that I can go there whenever I'm bored. Aunty Kagome, can I go play in the garden?"

Kagome nodded and Rin ran off.

"Really?" Kagome looked at Kagura. "She's not getting in the way?"

"Hardly," Kagura replied and she took a sip from the glass of ice water the maid had set moments ago. "Everyone loves her. The workplace is more entertaining with her there." Which was true, Kagura couldn't even find her most of the time; Rin was all over the place doing small chores –which she had told Kagura earlier that she loved.

"Oh really? So you wouldn't mind if I come to bugg you too?"

"If you don't get in my way."

"I promise," she raised her hand like taking an oath than burst out laughing.

"What so funny?" A new voice came from behind them. They all turned and Kagura saw a pretty woman about Kagura's height with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, wearing a light pink dress.

"Sango," Kagome waved at the chair. "Come, join us."

"You must be the infamous Kagura," Sango said and sat beside Kagura.

_Infamous? _

"She babbles about everything," Sango explained.

"Only to my close friends," Kagome blinked innocently.

"Inuyasha?"

"Somewhere in the house, probably sulking that Sesshoumaru cancelled the golf day."

_Hey, he actually has a life._

"He did? Miroku didn't say so. Dining here then, I suppose."

Kagome nodded. "I must warn you Kagura, Miroku is a pervert so don't hesitate to throw anything at him. Well that's only if Sango doesn't get to him first."

"Yes, I married a pervert," she sighed but not in an annoyed way. Kagura could tell she loved the pervert she married.

"Who are you calling a pervert?" A good looking black haired man appeared out of nowhere. "And who would be this lovely lady?" He looked at Kagura, who in return glared at him.

"Since a woman actually committed the crime to marry you, you should respect her wishes and try not to hit on other woman in her presence. Actually you shouldn't be hitting on _any _other women. Even if it's a habit." She watched Miroku's violet-black eyes widen slightly and a giggle escaped from Sango.

"Another wench brave enough to put ya in your place," this time it was a Sesshoumaru look-alike who said that. Inuyasha, she decided, since they looked so much alike.

Wench?! Kagura found that extremely rude.

"No wonder you guys are brothers. The resemblance is remarkable but I must say at least Sesshoumaru knows when to keep his mouth shut when he doesn't have anything polite to say." Kagura smiled.

Her comment left him speechless, and then he burst after a few seconds. "What?! What'd you just say woman?"

"Calling a woman –who you are meeting for the first time– a 'wench' is something Sesshoumaru wouldn't do." Kagome and Sango gave her an amused look. Those two knew that it was a lie considering how their first meeting went, but since Kagome had mentioned sibling rivalry, she knew being compared to Sesshoumaru would piss Inuyasha off. But he brought it to himself, calling her a wench, which had many synonyms, all which Kagura didn't like being called.

Inuyasha remained speechless as he went over and sat in the chair. She saw Kagome and Sango hiding their smirks.

It was going to be an interesting day.

----

**Well, till next time. Do drop a note :)**

**kon-KON~**


	7. The Matchmaker

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha ... sadly T.T**

**A/N: Chapters are getting update slowly now I realize but it's September now ...again so we all get busy with schools etc. I'll try my best to update every week or so. Again thank you all people who reviewed. Do review this one too.**

**----**

**Loose Canon**

**----**

I was getting used to the life living with Sesshoumaru. It wasn't so bad, Rin was adorable. I could understand how she could melt everyone, including Sesshoumaru [even though he never showed it].

It never occurred to me that Sesshoumaru could actually be an interesting individual when his time isn't spent in his office. However, I, determined as I am, practically forced him into a couple conversations only to discover he wasn't half bad.

I find that with each passing day, and the more I get to know him, my hate for him was slowly beginning to fade.

Like I said..._slowly._

** ----**

**Chapter 7**

**The Matchmaker**

**----**

By the time Kagura came home it was a little after eight and Rin was asleep. It was a tiring day for her as she played with Inuyasha's dog all day. She had fallen asleep in Kagura's lap on the ride back home. When Rin was tugged into the bed, Kagura headed for her room and found a new cell phone package on her bed when she entered. Finally. A new model for her old number since her previous one was destroyed in the fire.

She took out the cell phone and plugged it in to charge it, then she checked her messages.

_Thirty-seven new messages._

Kagura sighed. She didn't want to deal with those right now so she put the phone, and the phone package, on the nightstand, then went downstairs to harass Sesshoumaru. Half way she was greeted by Chiko, whom she picked up and continued her journey to the study.

She entered the study and sat at her usual chair across from Sesshoumaru's. She did a quick scan and saw no coffee cup anywhere in her line of sight.

Sesshoumaru didn't look up from the papers he was working on. He knew it was her, it had become Kagura's routine to pester him every night before going to bed. It was fun pestering him. Most of the time it was her talking, she usually wasn't a talkative woman but things tend to come out of her mouth whenever she was with him. She knew he didn't want to be disturbed and he rarely ever put himself into the conversation but Kagura knew he listened even when he didn't want to.

"Your brother," half brother she had learned today, "Was pretty upset that you cancelled whatever you were supposed to do."

"I had work to do," said he without looking up from the papers.

"Oh really?" She said sarcastically. Like he ever got out of this room. He lived in it twenty-four seven. "Why don't you work at the company, must you also work when you're home? An hour or two worth of work at home is understandable, but must you live in this study? Why don't you spend that time with your daughter? She may not say anything but I know that she'd rather spend time with her father than anyone else."

Sesshoumaru looked at her then with an expression full of interest.

"What?" She asked when he kept staring at her.

"You speak as if you know of these feelings."

She did know those feeling, she just didn't want him to know that. She was once a little girl and her father had loved gambling more than his daughters. She and Yura ached for Naraku to spend some time with them but that never happened. By the time they were old enough to understand his interest only lay in gambling, he was long gone.

"I don't need to have experience to tell what your daughter wants. She's transparent," she noticed that she'd snapped at him when she saw his right eyebrow raised. She didn't mean to snap but the bittersweet memories of her past were not something she wanted to remember. Chiko jumped off her lap, sensing her tension and made its way to Sesshoumaru and jumped in his lap. Sesshoumaru didn't mind it and petted him in the right spot that got Chiko purring.

Bastard, he was stealing her cat away from her. Stupid Chiko, he must be gay.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Asleep," she said calmly. "She fell asleep on the way back."

He nodded and turned his attention back to the papers.

Did the man not hear what she had just said? He was still working when she was again bugging him not to. Not to mention that for the past week it's been the same lecture but still he was just ignoring it...again.

She didn't care if he died in this study but damn it, it was annoying that he was always in here.

Kagura sat back more comfortably in the chair and watched him work his way through the papers, then did something on the laptop and pet Chiko once in a while. The cycle of his working habit continued [not once glancing at her] and Kagura watched patiently until she couldn't take it anymore. She leaned forward in the chair and shut his laptop with a thud.

"How about a walk, hmm?" Kagura gave him an innocent smile. He glared at her and tried to open the laptop again but Kagura put her hand on the top, letting him know she had no intention of giving up easily. That didn't stop him from turning back his attention to the files that lay on the desk.

Okay. So, files next.

She dragged the laptop across the huge desk and pulled it toward her, away from Sesshoumaru's reach.

"A drink?"

Nothing. Not even a glance. Instead he wrote something on the paper in front of him with his expensive looking pen. She had never seen him write before.

She pulled some of the files toward her direction and saw him pause for a second then returned to work.

"A movie maybe?"

She moved a few more files, getting closer to the one he was currently on.

Nothing from him again.

"Sex?" Kagura purred.

He looked at her with slightly shocked eyes and Kagura burst out laughing.

"No really," she said wiping her wet eyes. She continued when she was back in control. "Don't think that I'm dying to spend time with ya but seriously. It is damn annoying seeing you in here all the time. I bet even your staff thinks you're hopeless."

She laughed again as she remembered his shocked face. She cleared her throat.

"Just go take a walk in the garden, _alone, _if you want to but _please _just for once, get out of this room," she took advantage of his shocked stage and pulled the last and the current file out of his reach. "So will you go or do I have to hide these files and your laptop?"

He narrowed his eyes at her and Kagura returned his gaze with her challenging one. Finally after a few minutes he sighed, put Chiko on his now empty side of the desk and stood up. He walked up to the door.

Thank god. Kagura guessed it was probably a sacrifice for him to leave his 'oh-so-lovely' sanctuary.

He stopped at the door and half turned to look at her.

"Not coming?" he plainly asked.

His question shocked her. Was he actually asking her to come along with him? He was waiting for an answer or for her to walk.

Did she want to take a walk with this man when he wasn't busy working? Bugging him was different, he could pretend to ignore her and Kagura could pretend to talk like an idiot whether he listened or not.

_Well, let's see how it'll go then._

Kagura nodded once and took a step toward him. He turned and started walking with her following a little behind him. He slowed a bit so they were now walking side by side. They passed Ami and Suzuki, both looked surprised to see them walking toward the garden. When they reached the garden, Kagura inhaled deeply. It smelled good, of various flowers and cool night breeze.

The garden was huge; she had explored it with Rin. It was beautifully filled with variety of flowers. There was a small pond at the end of the garden that contained small fish and beside it was a beautiful seven foot tall statue of the Roman mythical Goddess of Spring Flora with a tilted urn on her shoulder and whenever it rained the water fell right into the pond from it.

They followed the small pathway that toured the whole garden, allowing them to see flowers on either side of the pathway. They passed some blue flowers Kagura couldn't remember the name of.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Kagura looked up at him. "You should get out of the study more often. I think everyone would like that."

"Did they put you up to this?"

They, meaning his family and staff.

"Now why would I listen to someone who's not my boss? It's just sickening seeing you in that study 24/7." They walked past the territory of various types of roses. "They've probably wanted to tell you that for the longest time but I guess they were too scared to say something. I mean you do carry a scary aura."

Most of the walk was quiet and peaceful, which shocked Kagura since she had thought it would be more awkward.

"Can I ask you something?" Kagura continued when he raised an eyebrow. "Who painted the mural above the entrance door? The _St. George and the Dragon _look alike?"

"It was already there when I bought the house," he replied simply.

"When did you buy the house?"

"Seven years ago," he said after a moment.

" Wow," Kagura said in awe. "That's a long time. So you really don't know who painted it?"

He gave her the look that said, _did I not just say that?_

"A shame," she muttered. She really wanted to know who painted it; it was like the exact copy of the original painting. Maybe they just traced it, or did the whole paint by numbers thing. But still, someone would have decided on the... It was useless thinking about that.

"Did you ever consider painting?" He asked without looking at her. At first Kagura thought her ears were playing tricks on her. Had Sesshoumaru actually _willingly _asked something about her life?

At first she decided to ignore the question but then thought better of it. She basically knew his whole life story thanks to Kagome, so it wouldn't kill her to tell him something about hers...

"I used to," she decided to answer his question. "But I stopped when my mother died. I never bothered drawing after that." It was still painful; her mother was the one who had taught her about art, it was from her mother that she had gotten her talent and interest from. Yura on the other had earned a talent of different sorts, hairstyling. "So I went University for Art History instead of going to Art School."

Silence once again fell between them, though not unpleasant silence.

----

Ami put away Miss Kagura's last dry-cleaned skirt into the closet of her room and closed the closet door. Then she entered the washroom and put the dry towels and washcloths in the bathroom shelf for the next day. Miss Kagura came in when Ami left the washroom.

"I didn't know you were in here," she stated.

"Oh I was leaving your washed clothes and towels in here," Miss Kagura nodded.

"You know you don't have to do that. I can put away the clothes, I don't really mind," she took off her high heeled shoes and put placed them in the shoe self in the closet. "I don't have much to do here anyways, so I won't die out of a couple of chores."

Ami giggled. She liked Miss Kagura, she was so unlike the usual mean, obsessed- with-their-own-looks women that usually threw themselves at Mr. Tanaka. She'd admired her the second she had slapped Mr. Tanaka that night a week ago. She saw it, she was there. It was all Sara's fault.

"Oh no," Ami smiled. "It's my job so it's no trouble," she watched Miss Kagura nod and went to lie on the bed with her feet still touching the floor.

"Don't you take weekends off Ami?" she asked. "I realized there are less people around on weekends,"

"Oh, I take them off here and there when I go see my dad at the end of every month. He lives in the retirement resident a little out of the city. It's a little too far to go there every week. I stay here and play with Miss Rin, and now you're here, so it's more fun. Don't worry. I'm good."

"Only child?"

Ami nodded. "How was your walk in the garden, with Mr. Tanaka?"

Miss Kagura sat up. "Shocking isn't it? That man actually got out of that room." Ami nodded. "And the walk was nice, the air was refreshing."

That's it? The Air was refreshing?

"Actually..." Miss Kagura spoke up. "For the first time, we actually talked about something other than my reason being here. I think it was the first conversation we had that wasn't...turbulent," she seemed caught up in the moment for a second. "Well there is that. We didn't talk much though."

"That seems like Mr. Tanaka."

"Anyways Ami, do you have any idea what I can do around here other than sit around and drink wine? I had a busy life before so I can't get used to having so much time in my hands."

"Oh, I'm not sure...what do you wish to do?"

Miss Kagura was silent for a few moments, probably thinking.

"Oh! I know!" Miss Kagura exclaimed excitedly. "I want to try to learn how to cook, I'm a bad cook, and I have no idea how I managed to live these years without having any skills in cooking. When I go back at least I'll know how to feed myself other than canned food."

Right. She was only living here temporary.

"Well, if Mr. Tanaka is okay with it, I guess I can tell Hiten. He's the chef."

"Puh-lease," Miss Kagura waved her hand. "Like he ever cared what I did in the house. Hook me up with the chef. So I can learn something."

Ami nodded and after saying goodnight, left Miss Kagura's room.

It somehow saddened Ami that Miss Kagura would leave one day. She brought a bit excitement in the house like Miss Rin, not to mention she thought she was a good influence of Mr. Tanaka. For example, he wasn't drinking too much coffee anymore [thank God], and he didn't read at the dining table any longer either and then tonight's walk.

She could tell that Mr. Tanaka liked her; he didn't despise her like he did to usual women. He didn't mind whatever sarcasm she threw at him, Ami knew, she saw it. She wasn't sure about Miss Kagura since most of the time she was either plotting against him or trying to annoying the crap out of him. Ami giggled. Though she didn't sense the hate Miss Kagura felt for Mr. Tanaka any longer, or maybe she was hiding it well. Still, she was a good influence on him, and Miss Rin.

Ami hoped she could find a way to keep her in this house forever. Mr. Tanaka would never make a move on Miss Kagura, it wasn't his style. Maybe she should help them. She smiled.

Yes, she must start something or they both would stay like this forever, and Miss Kagura would leave even before knowing what a good man Mr. Tanaka is. Even now she was starting to accept him. Kagura didn't realize is of course but Ami could tell.

She had to talk to Hiten.

----

Kagura woke up around eleven-thirty the next morning. Since it was the weekend, sleeping in wouldn't kill her, especially after a long, tiring day like yesterday. She wished she could sleep in everyday; who didn't like to sleep in? Sleep was divine.

She washed up and changed into brown shorts and a white tank top and slipped on a pair of brown flip-flops. She put her hair up in a ponytail then put on her glasses and headed downstairs for food. She saw Chiko lying on a sofa in the bigger living room and sighed. That cat did whatever it pleased.

When she reached the dining table she saw Sesshoumaru and Rin seated already. She was just in time, she saw a few maids set food on the table and leave.

Rin saw her and perked up. "Morning Miss Kagura!"

Kagura looked at the nearest clock and saw it was a little past twelve. "Good afternoon Rin," Kagura sat down and looked at Sesshoumaru and decided to greet him for the first time since she'd come to this house. "Sesshoumaru," she couldn't bring her elf to say 'Good afternoon, Sesshoumaru' it seemed too...weird. She had to say in character.

He looked at her for a second then said, "Kagura," as he turned his attention toward the food.

"So what you doing today, well, whatever's left of it," Kagura asked Rin between bites.

"I'm going golfing with Daddy and Uncle Inu and Uncle Miroku," Rin excitedly said. "Would Miss Kagura like to come?"

"No, that's okay. I can't play golf," Kagura smiled.

"Daddy said he would teach me," Rin smiled.

Kagura smiled and looked at Sesshoumaru from the corner of her eyes; he was eating quietly, focused on his food. When they all finished eating and were ready to leave, she grabbed Kagura's hand and dragged her outside. She watched Sesshoumaru put the equipment in the truck of in a car she hadn't seen before and couldn't remember the name of it – she didn't know much about cars.

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Miss Kagura," Rin looked at her with hopeful eyes. "It'll be fun."

"I'm sure," Kagura smiled. "I have some stuff I need to do, but you go have fun."

Rin nodded, Kagura saw a bit of disappointment in her eyes but ignored it. She didn't want to take away her time with Sesshoumaru. Speaking of him, she saw him leaning against the closed driver door with his arms crossed at his chest, staring at her. He was wearing a navy polo shirt and white golf pants, Kagura hadn't seen him anything but suits. It was weird…but nice. He seemed broader in the thin shirt; Kagura noticed his thin short sleeved shirt outlined his toned, muscular biceps as it showed off his muscular forearms.

Which was surprising for Kagura since she barely saw him out of his study— when did he get the time to work out?

Kagura looked away and focused her attention on Rin, "Go, your Dad's waiting." Rin nodded and hugged her legs then ran to the car. She looked at Sesshoumaru again, saw him gave her a nod then got into the car and seconds later, pulled out of the driveway.

----

Kagura followed Ami in the kitchen and was immediately greeted by people. Well, two people. Ami introduced the red-eyed man with a black braid hanging behind him as Hiten —the cook. The black haired young girl in her early twenties called Koharu was the one in charge of desserts, beverages and snacks. She seemed shy.

Only two people working in the kitchen? Kagura was surprised, but still, it wasn't as if they ate twenty-four-seven so it was understandable.

Kagura put together her hands, "So, what are you guys going to make?" She excitedly asked.

----

"You're not serious," Hiten shook his head. "Ami, why are you playing matchmaker for those two? Do you wanna get fired?" She had pulled him out of the kitchen when Miss Kagura was helping/learning the cake Koharu was going to make.

"I only get fired if Mr. Tanaka finds out. Still I don't think he would fire me," Ami crossed her arms.

"You're crazy. Don't pull me in this crazy mess," he put up his hands and turned to leave to go back to the kitchen.

"No, no, no, no," she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "You don't get it. She's good for him. Mr. Tanaka doesn't read paper at the table anymore, and the coffee intake is a lot less than it used to be and he actually took a walk in the garden with her last night. A long walk! And he went out today golfing –but he usually does that. _My point _is that he's doing all those things since Miss Kagura told him to. I know she told him to.

"And I like her. She's not fake or annoying like that Sara and really, Mr. Tanaka likes her. I know he does! You live in the kitchen so you can't know but I do," she took a breath. "Hiten, help me," she pleaded.

Hiten considered for a second than sighed. "If we get busted, I'm blaming it on ya."

----

**Yes, the romance is kind of slow in this fic but come on, Kagura hates him, takes a lot to like someone you hate. So bare with me ^^.**

**Do drop a note.**

**kon-KON~**


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